Gas adsorbing device, vacuum heat insulator making use of gas adsorbing device and process for producing vacuum heat insulator

ABSTRACT

A jacket material into which a gas adsorbing device and core material are inserted is decompressed in a vacuum chamber, the opening is sealed, and then the jacket material is exposed to the atmosphere. In the atmospheric pressure, a pressure of about 1 atm which is equivalent to the pressure difference between the inside and outside is applied to the jacket material of the heat insulator. The jacket material is made of a plastic laminated film and is deformed by pressure. A protruding portion is plunged into a container to drill through holes, and a gas adsorbent in the container communicates with the inside of the jacket material. Thus, both during holding and in applying to the vacuum heat insulator, the gas adsorbent can be applied to the vacuum heat insulator without degradation, and the high degree of vacuum can be kept for a long time.

This application is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/995,832, filed Jan. 16, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,988,770 B2, whichis incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a gas adsorbing device that has a gasadsorbent and adsorbs gas with the gas adsorbent, a vacuum heatinsulator that has the gas adsorbing device and exhibits heat insulationperformance by adsorbing internal gas with the gas adsorbing device, anda process for producing a vacuum heat insulator.

BACKGROUND ART

Recently, expectations for industrial technology requiring high vacuumhave been raised. For instance, energy saving has been strongly desiredfrom the viewpoint of prevention of global warming, and energy saving ofconsumer electronics has been also an urgent issue. Especially, athermal insulation apparatus such as a refrigerator, a freezer, or avending machine requires a heat insulator having high heat insulationperformance from the viewpoint of efficient use of heat.

As a general heat insulator, fiber material such as glass wool or foamsuch as urethane foam is used. However, for improving the heatinsulation performance of the heat insulator, the heat insulator must bethinned. The heat insulator cannot be applied, when space capable ofbeing filled with the heat insulator is restricted and space saving andeffective use of the space are required.

As a heat insulator of high heat insulation performance, a vacuum heatinsulator is proposed. This vacuum heat insulator is produced byinserting a core material serving as a spacer into a jacket materialhaving gas barrier property, and by decompressing and sealing theinside.

The heat insulation performance can be increased by increasing thedegree of vacuum inside the vacuum heat insulator, but gas existinginside the vacuum heat insulator is broadly classified into threefollowing gases:

-   -   gas remaining without being exhausted in producing the vacuum        heat insulator;    -   gas generated from the core material or jacket material after        decompression and sealing (gas adsorbed by the core material or        jacket material or reaction gas generated by reaction of an        un-reacted component in the core material); and    -   gas coming from the outside through the jacket material.

For adsorbing the gases, a method of filling a gas adsorbent into thevacuum heat insulator is provided.

For instance, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. H09-512088discloses a method of adsorbing the gas in the vacuum heat insulatorusing a Ba—Li alloy.

Of gases to be adsorbed by the gas adsorbent in the vacuum heatinsulator, a hard-to-adsorb gas is nitrogen. That is because nitrogenmolecules are non-polar molecules having a large binding energy of about940 kJ/mol and hence are difficult to be activated. Therefore, using theBa—Li alloy allows adsorption of nitrogen, and keeps the degree ofvacuum of the inside of the vacuum heat insulator.

However, the gas adsorbent that is used for a conventional vacuum heatinsulator and disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No.H09-512088 can be handled in an air atmosphere only for several minutes.This is described as “the gas adsorbent does not require heat treatmentfor activation, can absorb nitrogen even at normal temperature, and canbe handled in an air atmosphere only for several minutes”. That isbecause handling in the air atmosphere for several minutes or longerexhausts the nitrogen adsorbing capability of the gas adsorbent in aproducing step where the gas adsorbent comes into contact with air. As aresult, air adsorbing capability for keeping the performance of thevacuum heat insulator including the gas adsorbent over time is reduced,and hence the performance degrades and performance fluctuationincreases. For preventing the reduction of the nitrogen adsorbingcapability of the gas adsorbent, the handling time in an air atmosphereis restricted to several minutes.

In the step of industrially producing the vacuum heat insulator usingthe gas adsorbent, however, it is desired that the gas adsorbent can behandled in an air atmosphere for a longer time. When the gas adsorbentis handled in the air atmosphere even for several minutes, somereduction of the nitrogen adsorbing capability is unavoidable.

The level of the activity of the gas adsorbent, namely time until thenitrogen adsorbing capability is saturated during leaving of the gasadsorbent in the atmosphere, depends on the form of the gas adsorbentand material specification. For example, when the gas adsorbent has apellet shape, the nitrogen adsorbing capability is not saturated evenwhen it is left in the atmosphere for a relatively long time. When thegas adsorbent is in powder form, the specific surface area becomes largeand hence the nitrogen adsorbing capability is saturated only by beingleft in the atmosphere for a short time.

Therefore, when a powdery gas adsorbent that has an activity higher thanthat of Ba—Li is used, the contactable time with the atmosphere can beextremely reduced.

Recent growing of the demand of energy saving or the like has requiredhigher heat insulation performance. For further increasing the degree ofvacuum inside the vacuum heat insulator, it is desired to put the gasadsorbent of activity higher than that of Ba—Li to practical use.However, such a gas adsorbent of higher activity is difficult to behandled.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention addresses the problems and provides the followingtechnology. Even when a powdery gas adsorbent or the like of highactivity is used for obtaining higher heat insulation performance,preventing air exposure in the producing step produces the followingeffects:

-   -   the gas adsorbing capability does not reduce;    -   internal gas is continuously adsorbed for a long time when the        gas adsorbent is applied to a vacuum heat insulator;    -   reduction or fluctuation in heat insulation performance does not        occur; and    -   high degree of vacuum and high heat insulation performance can        be kept for a long time.

A gas adsorbing device has at least a sealable container including a gasadsorbent and a protrusion adjacent to the container. When externalforce is applied, the protrusion produces a through hole in thecontainer and the gas adsorbent communicates with the outside. In thecase where the gas adsorbent is applied to a vacuum heat insulator orthe like, therefore, the gas adsorbent comes into contact with the gasto be adsorbed by it after vacuum decompression and sealing of theopening is performed. As a result, the gas adsorbent does not come intocontact with air of relatively high pressure, and degradation thereofcan be minimized.

In the gas adsorbing device of the present invention, the protrusionsare fixed via a plate-like member and hence the protruding portions arearranged in a two-dimensional plane shape. The protruding portionscertainly come into contact with the container. When external force isapplied, the gas adsorbent certainly can come into contact with the gasto be adsorbed by it, switching is certainly performed when the gasadsorbent is applied to a vacuum apparatus or the like, and theproducing yield of the vacuum apparatus or the like rises. Here, thevacuum apparatus means an apparatus such as a vacuum heat insulatorwhose function is fulfilled by evacuating the inside. The switchingmeans the phenomenon where the gas barrier property of a gas adsorbingdevice container is released and the gas adsorbent becomes able toadsorb gas outside the container.

The gas adsorbing device of the present invention has a containerincluding an opening, a partition for blocking the opening, and a gasadsorbent and gas that is not adsorbed by the gas adsorbent in theclosed space surrounded by the container and the partition. The gaspressure inside the closed space is lower than atmospheric pressure.

In the gas adsorbing device of the present invention, the contact of thegas adsorbent with the atmosphere is suppressed, by filling the gasadsorbent and the gas that is not adsorbed by the gas adsorbent into thecontainer. For adsorbing the gas in the vacuum apparatus, the gasadsorbent in the container is required to communicate with the innerspace of the vacuum apparatus such as the inside of the vacuum heatinsulator. The following mechanism allows the gas adsorbent to beinstalled in the inner space of the vacuum apparatus without contactwith the atmosphere of about 1 atm pressure. Here, the vacuum apparatusmeans an apparatus whose function is fulfilled by evacuating the inside,such as a vacuum heat insulator, a cathode-ray tube, a plasma displaypanel, or a fluorescent light.

The container includes the opening, and the closed space is formed bysurrounding the opening of the container with the partition. The gas inthe container applies pressure to the inner wall of the container andthe inside of the partition. The atmosphere applies atmospheric pressureto the outer wall of the container and the outside of the partition.

The atmospheric pressure is 1013 hPa, and the pressure inside thecontainer is lower than 1013 hPa. Therefore, the pressure differenceapplied to the partition is a value derived by subtracting the pressureinside the container from the atmospheric pressure. The partition ispressed to the opening of the container by the pressure difference, sothat gas does not move between the inside and outside of the containerand the degradation of the gas adsorbent can be prevented.

While, when the outside of the container is decompressed, pressureinside the container becomes equal to pressure outside it at a certaintime, and the pressure outside the container becomes higher than thepressure inside it. At the time when the pressure inside the containerbecomes equal to the pressure outside it, the pressure pressing thepartition to the container does not work, and the partition separatesfrom the container. The separation of the partition from the containerallows movement of gas between the inside and outside of the containerthrough the opening of the container. This mechanism allows the gasadsorbent to be installed inside the vacuum apparatus without contactwith the air at atmospheric pressure.

Thus, in the gas adsorbing device of the present invention, the contactof the gas adsorbent with the atmosphere is prevented at atmosphericpressure, and the gas adsorbent comes into contact with an ambientatmosphere outside the gas adsorbing device under decompression. Evenwhen the gas adsorbing device is applied to the vacuum apparatus atatmospheric pressure, degradation of the gas adsorbent due to theatmosphere does not occur, and the gas adsorbent can exhibit theessential performance after being applied to the vacuum apparatus.

The gas adsorbing device of the present invention has a container thathas an opening at its one end and is partially cylindrical, and apartition in contact with the inner wall of the cylindrical part of thecontainer. A gas adsorbent and gas that is not adsorbed by the gasadsorbent are filled into the closed space surrounded by the containerand the partition.

In the gas adsorbing device of the present invention, the contact of thegas adsorbent with the atmosphere is suppressed, by filling the gasadsorbent and the gas that is not adsorbed by the gas adsorbent into thecontainer. For adsorbing the gas in the vacuum apparatus, the gasadsorbent in the container is required to communicate with the innerspace of the vacuum apparatus such as the inside of the vacuum heatinsulator. The following mechanism allows the gas adsorbent to beinstalled in the inner space of the vacuum apparatus without contactwith the atmosphere of about 1 atm pressure.

At least a part of the container is cylindrical, and the cylindricalpart has an opening. The cylindrical part has a partition. Thispartition blocks the opening of the cylindrical part to form the closedspace, suppresses infiltration of air into the container, and preventsthe contact of the gas adsorbent with the atmosphere. Gas that is notadsorbed by the gas adsorbent is filled into the closed space. When thegas adsorbing device is placed at atmospheric pressure, a balance iskept between the atmospheric pressure and the pressure of thenon-adsorbent gas, and net force is not applied to the partition.

When the gas adsorbing device is installed in a vacuum apparatus such asa vacuum heat insulator and the installation space is decompressed, thepressure inside the closed space surrounded by the container andpartition becomes higher than the ambient pressure and the non-adsorbentgas expands. The pressure generated by the expansion moves the partitiontoward the opening of the cylindrical part, thereby separating thepartition from the cylindrical part of the container. Therefore, the gasadsorbent comes into contact with the external space after thedecompression. This mechanism allows the gas adsorbent to be installedinside the vacuum apparatus without contact with the air at atmosphericpressure.

Thus, in the gas adsorbing device of the present invention, the contactof the gas adsorbent with the atmosphere is prevented at atmosphericpressure, and the gas adsorbent comes into contact with an ambientatmosphere outside the gas adsorbing device under decompression. Evenwhen the gas adsorbing device is applied to the vacuum apparatus atatmospheric pressure, degradation of the gas adsorbent due to theatmosphere does not occur, and the gas adsorbent can exhibit theessential performance after being applied to the vacuum apparatus.

The gas adsorbing device of the present invention has a containerincluding a shell and a communication part, and includes the gasadsorbent in the container. The shell covers a gas adsorbent. Thecommunication part prevents the inside of the shell from communicatingwith the outside thereof when no external force is applied, and allowsthe inside of the shell to communicate with the outside thereof when anexternal force is applied.

In the gas adsorbing device of the present invention, the gas adsorbentdoes not come into contact with gas in outer space such as air when noexternal force is applied, so that the gas adsorbent can be held withoutconsuming the gas adsorbing capability. When an external force isapplied, communications between the inner space and outer space of thecontainer are allowed to exhibit the gas adsorbing capability.Therefore, the degradation of the adsorbing performance is suppresseduntil the adsorbing capability is exhibited, and the adsorbingcapability of the gas adsorbent can be exhibited at a maximum.

In the vacuum heat insulator employing the gas adsorbing device of thepresent invention, the gas adsorbent is not devitalized by the contactwith the atmosphere during producing the vacuum heat insulator. The gasadsorbent stably adsorbs main air components such as a minute amount ofnitrogen and oxygen infiltrating into the vacuum heat insulator withtime, the degree of vacuum can be kept for a long time, and high heatinsulation performance can be provided.

A producing process of the vacuum heat insulator of the presentinvention is as follows. An air component adsorbent that is gas-packagedinto the adsorbent filling body together with non-adsorbent gas isarranged inside the jacket container together with a porous corematerial and decompressed. The non-adsorbent gas in the adsorbentfilling body is evacuated through an opening that is formed by burstinga part of the adsorbent filling body that is expanded by pressuredifference by the decompression. The jacket container is then sealed.

The air component adsorbent is gas-packaged together with thenon-adsorbent gas, is burst in a vacuum atmosphere, and isvacuum-packaged together with the porous core material, so that contactwith the air in the atmosphere does not occur in the producing step andthe degradation of the adsorbent is prevented. The adsorbent can be usedwithout problems regardless of the amount of the producing time of thevacuum heat insulator. A vacuum heat insulator is provided that preventsfluctuation in adsorbing performance due to exposure in the airatmosphere, can be stably produced, and has satisfactory long-termreliability.

The vacuum heat insulator of the present invention has a gas adsorbingdevice. The gas adsorbing device has at least an air component adsorbentarranged in the adsorbent filling body having an opening, a porous corematerial, and a jacket container for storing them. The air componentadsorbent communicates with the vacuum space inside the vacuum heatinsulator through the opening.

A minute amount of residual air remaining in the porous core materialand a minute amount of air infiltrating from the outside can be adsorbedand immobilized by the air component adsorbent that communicates withthe porous core material through the vacuum space. The internal pressurecan be kept at a predetermined degree of vacuum. Thus, high heatinsulation performance can be kept for a long time.

A producing process of the vacuum heat insulator of the presentinvention is as follows. An air component adsorbent and a non-adsorbentgas that is not adsorbed by the air component adsorbent are filled intoa filling container. Here, the filling container opens when the pressureoutside the filling container is lower than the pressure inside it by apredetermined value or more. The filling container and the porous corematerial are disposed in the jacket container. Then, the inside of thejacket container is decompressed so that the pressure outside thefilling container is lower than the pressure inside it by thepredetermined value or more, thereby exhausting the non-adsorbent gasfrom the filling container and the air in the jacket container throughthe opening formed in the filling container. The jacket container isthen sealed.

In the producing process of the vacuum heat insulator, the air componentadsorbent, together with non-adsorbent gas, is filled into the fillingcontainer, the filling container in a vacuum atmosphere is opened, andthe vacuum heat insulator is vacuum-packaged together with the porouscore material. Therefore, contact with the air in the atmosphere doesnot occur in the producing step, and the degradation of the adsorbent isprevented. The adsorbent can be therefore used without problemsregardless of the amount of the producing time of the vacuum heatinsulator. A vacuum heat insulator is provided that prevents fluctuationin adsorbing performance due to exposure in the air atmosphere, can bestably produced, and has long-term reliability without problems.

The filling container has a structure where the openings of differentsizes included in two containers are overlapped and joined so that theopening of one container is blocked by the opening of the othercontainer. When the pressure outside the filling container is lower thanthe pressure inside it by a predetermined value or more, the overlappedand joined part is separated.

At this time, when the overlapped and joined part of the fillingcontainer is previously coated with a lubricant, the pressure differenceby the decompression allows easy separation of the joint to form anopening.

The vacuum heat insulator of the present invention has at least thefollowing elements:

-   -   an air component adsorbent arranged in the filling container in        which separation of the joint produces an opening;    -   a porous core material; and    -   a jacket container for storing them.        The air component adsorbent communicates with the continuous        space inside the jacket container through the opening. A minute        amount of residual air remaining in the porous core material and        a minute amount of air infiltrating from the outside can be        adsorbed and immobilized by the air component adsorbent that        communicates with the porous core material through the        continuous space. The internal pressure of the jacket container,        namely the internal pressure of the vacuum heat insulator, can        be kept at a predetermined degree of vacuum. Thus, high heat        insulation performance can be kept for a long time. Here, the        filling container can have an arbitrary shape and size, and may        be a capsule used for medicine or health food. The capsule means        a hard capsule including a body and a cap, and is defined as a        pair of closed-end cylindrical bodies capable of being        overlapped each other.

As discussed above, in the gas adsorbing device of the presentinvention, the contact of the gas adsorbent with the atmosphere isprevented at atmospheric pressure, and the gas adsorbent comes intocontact with an ambient atmosphere outside the gas adsorbing deviceunder decompression. Even when the gas adsorbing device is applied tothe vacuum apparatus at atmospheric pressure, degradation of the gasadsorbent due to the atmosphere does not occur, and the gas adsorbentcan exhibit the essential performance after it is applied to the vacuumapparatus. The vacuum heat insulator of the present invention stablyachieves high insulation performance, can secure long-term reliability,and produces a remarkable effect of addressing environmental issues suchas global warming.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a gas adsorbing device in accordance witha first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a vacuum heat insulator in accordance withthe first exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the gas adsorbing device after switchingin accordance with the first exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a gas adsorbing device in accordance witha second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the gas adsorbing device after switchingin accordance with the second exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a gas adsorbing device in accordance witha third exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the gas adsorbing device after switchingin accordance with the third exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a gas adsorbing device in accordance witha fourth exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the gas adsorbing device after switchingin accordance with the fourth exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view of a gas adsorbing device at atmosphericpressure in accordance with a fifth exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view of a vacuum heat insulator employing the gasadsorbing device in accordance with the fifth exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view of the gas adsorbing device underdecompression in accordance with the fifth exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a sectional view of a gas adsorbing device in accordance witha sixth exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a sectional view of a gas adsorbing device in accordance witha seventh exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a sectional view of a gas adsorbing device at atmosphericpressure in accordance with an eighth exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 16 is a sectional view of a vacuum heat insulator employing the gasadsorbing device in accordance with the eighth exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a sectional view of the gas adsorbing device underdecompression in accordance with the eighth exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a sectional view of a gas adsorbing device in accordance witha ninth exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a sectional view of a gas adsorbing device in accordance witha tenth exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a perspective view showing a sealed state of a containerconstituting a gas adsorbing device in accordance with an eleventhexemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a perspective view showing a communication state between theinside and outside of the container constituting the gas adsorbingdevice in accordance with the eleventh exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 22 is a perspective view showing a sealed state of a containerconstituting a gas adsorbing device in accordance with a twelfthexemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 23 is a perspective view showing a communication state between theinside and outside of the container constituting the gas adsorbingdevice in accordance with the twelfth exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 24 is a perspective view showing a sealed state of a containerconstituting a gas adsorbing device in accordance with a thirteenthexemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 25 is a perspective view showing a communication state between theinside and outside of the container constituting the gas adsorbingdevice in accordance with the thirteenth exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 26 is a schematic sectional view of a vacuum heat insulator beforevacuum packaging in accordance with a fourteenth exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 27 is a schematic sectional view of a vacuum heat insulator in theatmosphere after vacuum packaging in accordance with the fourteenthexemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 28 is a sectional view showing the inside of a vacuum packagingmachine before evacuation in a producing process of a vacuum heatinsulator in accordance with a fifteenth exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 29 is a sectional view showing the inside of the vacuum packagingmachine during evacuation in the producing process of the vacuum heatinsulator in accordance with the fifteenth exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 30 is a sectional view showing the inside of the vacuum packagingmachine just before the completion of evacuation in the producingprocess of the vacuum heat insulator in accordance with the fifteenthexemplary embodiment.

FIG. 31 is a sectional view showing the vacuum heat insulator aftervacuum packaging in the producing process of the vacuum heat insulatorin accordance with the fifteenth exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 32 is a sectional view showing a state before evacuation in aproducing process of a vacuum heat insulator in accordance with aseventeenth exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 33 is an enlarged sectional view showing a filling container usedfor the vacuum heat insulator in accordance with the seventeenthexemplary embodiment.

FIG. 34 is a sectional view showing a state just before the completionof evacuation in the producing process of the vacuum heat insulator inaccordance with the seventeenth exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 35 is a sectional view showing the vacuum heat insulator aftervacuum packaging in the producing process of the vacuum heat insulatorin accordance with the seventeenth exemplary embodiment.

REFERENCE MARKS IN THE DRAWINGS

-   101, 201, 301, 422 gas adsorbing devices-   102, 205, 305, 402 gas adsorbents-   103, 203, 401, 409, 415 containers-   104 protrusion-   105 protruding portion-   106 plate-like member-   107, 207, 307 vacuum heat insulators-   108, 208, 308 core materials-   109, 209, 309 jacket materials-   110, 202, 302 openings-   111 rubber plug-   112 film-   204, 304 partitions-   206, 306 non-adsorbent gases-   210, 310 packaging materials-   211, 311 covering materials-   212, 312 dividers-   303 cylindrical container-   313 seal

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A gas adsorbing device of the present invention has at least a sealablecontainer including a gas adsorbent and a protrusion adjacent to thecontainer. When an external force is applied, the protrusion produces athrough hole in the container, and the gas adsorbent communicates withthe outside.

The handling condition of the gas adsorbent becomes severe, as theactivity thereof becomes high and the specific surface area thereofbecomes large. In other words, the contactable time and the contactablepressure with air decrease. Not only degradation during holding such agas adsorbent but also degradation in installing it in a vacuumapparatus causes problems. Therefore, in installing the gas adsorbent inthe vacuum apparatus, it is required to make the gas adsorbentcommunicate with the outside after the pressure in a vacuum chambercompletely decreases.

When a gas adsorbent is applied to a vacuum heat insulator as oneexample of the vacuum apparatuses, a product obtained by inserting acore material and the gas adsorbent into a jacket material of gasbarrier property is installed in the chamber, then the chamber isdecompressed, the inside of the jacket material is decompressed, andthen an opening in the jacket material is sealed.

At this time, the inside of the chamber is decompressed with a vacuumpump. A high-pressure region, namely before vacuum sealing, can bedecompressed with any of a pump and adsorbent. While, in a low pressureregion, namely the inside of the jacket material after vacuum sealing,there are gas that is not completely decompressed by the vacuum pump,gas that infiltrates through the jacket material after vacuum sealing,and gas that generates from the core material. These gasses can beadsorbed only by the gas adsorbent. Therefore, for making the gasadsorbent exhibit its capability sufficiently inside the jacket materialafter vacuum sealing, the communication with the outside is requiredafter vacuum sealing.

As one of means for making the gas adsorbent communicate with theoutside, a method of using the atmospheric pressure applied to thejacket material after vacuum sealing is appropriate, as described below.

After vacuum-sealing the jacket material, pressure equivalent to thepressure difference between the inside and outside thereof, namelysubstantially a pressure of 1 atm, is applied to the jacket material.When the atmospheric pressure is applied to the inside of the jacketmaterial, a protrusion in the jacket material is pressed to thecontainer by the intensity of the atmospheric pressure, a through holeoccurs in the container, and the gas adsorbent communicates with theoutside.

Required mechanical characteristics of the jacket material are gasbarrier property, deformation by the atmospheric pressure, and transferof the atmospheric pressure to the protrusion and container. Morepreferably, a through hole is drilled in the container by the protrusionat a pressure of the atmospheric pressure or lower.

The container of the present invention is required to have sealingproperty, namely gas barrier property, and have mechanical strengthwithstanding the handling during holding. The protrusion preferably haslarge hardness. A preferable relationship between the mechanicalstrengths of the container and protrusion is that the hardness of theprotrusion is larger than that of the container and a through hole isdrilled in the container by pressing the protrusion to the container.The container and protrusion can be made of plastics, metal, or acomplex of them.

In a gas adsorbing device of the present invention, the container isobtained by forming a film or sheet having gas barrier property in a bagshape.

Since the film used as the container has gas barrier property, the gasadsorbent of high activity can be kept in the atmosphere for a longtime. Since the container is formed of the film, a through hole iseasily drilled by pressing the protrusion, and the adsorbent can be madeto communicate with the outside more certainly.

The film or sheet having gas barrier property means that its gaspermeability is 10⁴ [cm³/m²-day-atm] or lower, more preferably 10³[cm³/m²-day-atm] or lower. Specifically, the film or sheet of plasticssuch as ethylene-vinylalcohol copolymer, nylon, polyethyleneterephthalate, or polypropylene is formed in a bag shape. However, thepresent invention is not limited to these. Preferably, the gas barrierproperty is increased by sticking metal foil to the plastic film orevaporating metal onto it. Metal applicable to the metal foil orevaporation can be gold, copper, or aluminum, but the present inventionis not limited to these.

In the gas adsorbing device of the present invention, the container is aplastic molded body having gas barrier property.

Since the container is a plastic molded body having gas barrierproperty, the gas adsorbent of high activity can be kept in theatmosphere for a long time. The container is hardly distorted by aslight force, and the possibility of breakage of it by handling duringholding decreases.

The plastic molded body having gas barrier property means that its gaspermeability is 10⁴ [cm³/m²-day-atm] or lower, more preferably 10³[cm³/m²-day-atm] or lower. Specifically, the molded body is made ofplastics such as ethylene-vinylalcohol copolymer, nylon, polyethyleneterephthalate, or polypropylene. However, the present invention is notlimited to these. For improving the gas barrier property, evaporationmay be applied to the molded body. Metal foil may be buried in it.

In the gas adsorbing device of the present invention, an opening isdisposed in part of the container, the opening is covered with anelastic body partition, and a protrusion is adjacent to the partition.

Since the elastic body partition is formed on the part of the container,a through hole can be drilled in the partition by the protrusion, andthe gas adsorbent can be made to communicate with the outside. Themechanical condition set to a part other than the partition part iseasy. In other words, a through hole does not need to be drilled by aprotrusion in the part other than the partition, and a container with ahigh regard to the gas barrier property can be designed. Therefore, thecontainer can be made of a metal molded body or glass molded body.

Here, the elastic body is deformed by stress, and the deformation isreturned by releasing the stress. The deformation of metal and plasticsreturns when the deformation amount is slight, so that they are elasticbodies in a broad sense. For securing the sealing property, it ispreferable that the elastic body is largely deformed by slight force sothat it can deform in response to the shape of the opening in thecontainer. Therefore, an elastic body such as rubber that is largelydeformed by slight force is preferable.

In the gas adsorbing device of the present invention, an opening isdisposed in part of the container, the opening is covered with a filmhaving gas barrier property, and a protrusion is adjacent to thepartition.

Since the film having gas barrier property is formed on the part of thecontainer, a through hole can be drilled in the film by the protrusion,and the gas adsorbent can be made to communicate with the outside. Themechanical condition set to a part other than the partition part becomeseasy. In other words, a through hole does not need to be drilled by aprotrusion in the part other than the film, and a container with a highregard to the gas barrier property can be designed. Therefore, thecontainer can be made of metal molded body or glass molded body.

In the gas adsorbing device of the present invention, the protrusion isfixed via a plate-like member, and protruding portions of the protrusionare arranged in a two-dimensional plane shape.

The protruding portions means parts having surface curvature sharplylarger than that of other parts on the protrusion. The tangential linein the longitudinal direction of the protruding portions forms an angleof 60° with respect to the parallel direction assumed to be 0°,preferably 90° or more, and more preferably 120° or more.

For drilling a through hole in the container with the protrusion insidea vacuum apparatus, a force is required to be applied to the protrusionwhile the protruding portions are in contact with the container. Theprotrusions between the jacket material and the container in the vacuumapparatus have different effects on them dependently on their shape.

For addressing this problem, a plurality of protrusions are fixed to theplate-like member, and the protruding portions are arranged in atwo-dimensional plane shape. Since the protruding portions aretwo-dimensionally arranged in a contact state with the container,applying pressure to the jacket material certainly presses theprotruding portions to the container and can prevent contact with partsother than the container.

The plate-like member can be made of structural material such as metal,inorganic material, or plastics, but is not especially specified as longas only a small amount of gas is generated.

As the method of fixing the protrusion to the plate-like member,adhesion with an adhesive, welding, or integral molding is used.However, the method is not especially specified.

The atmospheric pressure is uniformly applied to the whole jacketmaterial. Therefore, the force due to the atmospheric pressure thatpresses the protrusion to the container is proportional to the inverseof the number per unit area of protrusions that are fixed to theplate-like member. As a result, for certainly drilling through holes inthe container and making the adsorbent communicate with the outside, itis preferable that the number of protrusions per unit area is smaller,and the number is 100/cm² or less, preferably 50/cm² or less, and morepreferably 25/cm² or less.

In the gas adsorbing device of the present invention, the distancebetween the protruding portions of the protrusions and the plate-likemember is shorter than the thickness of the container.

The distance between the protruding portions of the protrusions and theplate-like member is equal to the length of the protrusions, namely thethickness of an object whose protrusions can drill through holes. Whenthe vacuum apparatus is a vacuum heat insulator and the thickness of thecontainer is smaller than the length of the protrusions, the protrusionshaving drilled the through holes in the container can also drill throughholes in the jacket material of the vacuum heat insulator. When thelength of the protrusions is smaller than the thickness of thecontainer, the tips of the protrusions remain inside the container, andhence no through hole is drilled in the jacket material.

In the gas adsorbing device of the present invention, the gas adsorbentis CuZSM-5.

CuZSM-5 has extremely high activity, and an excellent adsorbingcharacteristic even for low-pressure gas. When CuZSM-5 is used for thegas adsorbing device of the present invention, the gas adsorbent doesnot come into contact with a high-pressure atmosphere and does notdegrade, and hence the adsorbing characteristic can be exhibited in alow-pressure region.

These embodiments of the present invention will be described hereinafterwith reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention isnot limited by these embodiments.

First Exemplary Embodiment

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a gas adsorbing device in accordance witha first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, gas adsorbing device 101 includes gas adsorbent 102 incontainer 103, and protrusions 104 are in contact with container 103.Gas adsorbent 102 is made of powdery CuZSM-5.

Container 103 is formed by filling gas adsorbent 102 into a bag andvacuum-sealing the bag. Here, the bag is prepared by thermallydepositing a part of low-density polyethylene of a laminated film withanother part thereof. The laminated film is formed by stacking thelow-density polyethylene, aluminum foil, and polyethylene terephthalatefilm in that order. Protrusions 104 are in contact with container 103via protruding portions 105. Protrusions 104 are fixed to plate-likemember 106, and protruding portions 105 are arranged in atwo-dimensional plane shape.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a vacuum heat insulator in accordance withthe first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 2, vacuum heat insulator 107 is formed by inserting gasadsorbing device 101 and core material 108 into jacket material 109 andthen decompressing and sealing jacket material 109.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of gas adsorbing device 101 after switchingin accordance with the first exemplary embodiment.

Regarding gas adsorbing device 101 having such a structure, operationsand actions of FIG. 1 through FIG. 3 are described.

Since gas adsorbent 102 is vacuum-sealed in the laminated film havingthe aluminum foil, gas adsorbent 102 does not come into contact with gaseven when gas adsorbing device 101 is left in the atmosphere for a longtime. Therefore, gas adsorbent 102 does not degrade and can be held inthe atmosphere for a long time.

For adsorbing the gas in jacket material 109 with gas adsorbent 102, athrough hole is required to occur in container 103. This is achieved bythe following mechanism.

In the step of forming heat insulator 107, jacket material 109 intowhich gas adsorbing device 101 and core material 108 are inserted isdecompressed in a vacuum chamber, the opening is sealed, and then jacketmaterial 109 is exposed to the atmosphere. In the atmospheric pressure,a pressure of about 1 atm, which is equivalent to the pressuredifference between the inside and outside of jacket material 109 of heatinsulator 107, is applied to them. Jacket material 109 is made ofplastic laminated film, so that jacket material 109 is flexible, isdeformed by pressure, and applies pressure to adjacent plate-like member106. The pressure is applied to protrusions 104 fixed to plate-likemember 106, protruding portions 105 apply a plunging force to container103 to drill through holes in container 103, and gas adsorbent 102communicates with the inside of jacket material 109.

Since protrusions 104 are fixed to plate-like member 106, container 103comes into contact with protruding portions 105 face to face, and hencethe direction hardly shifts. Each protrusion 104 points to asubstantially vertical direction to the container, so that a throughhole is certainly drilled in container 103.

The distance between protruding portions 105 of protrusions 104 andplate-like member 106 is shorter than the thickness of container 103, sothat protruding portions 105 remain inside container 103. Therefore, theplunging force by protrusions 104 is not applied to jacket material 109of heat insulator 107, and no through hole is drilled in jacket material109.

Thanks to this mechanism, in either case of holding and application toheat insulator 107, gas adsorbent 102 can be applied to heat insulator107 without degradation, and reduction of the inner pressure and keepingof the degree of vacuum for a long time are allowed.

Second Exemplary Embodiment

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of gas adsorbing device 101 in accordancewith a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 4, container 103 has opening 110, and opening 110 is coveredwith rubber plug 111 to secure air tightness as a whole. Container 103is made of polyethylene, rubber plug 111 is made of butyl rubber, andthe rubber elasticity secures the sealing property of container 103.Protruding portions 105 of protrusions 104 are installed so as to be incontact with rubber plug 111.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of gas adsorbing device 101 after switchingin accordance with the second exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

Regarding gas adsorbing device 101 having such a structure, operationsand actions are described hereinafter.

Since gas adsorbent 102 is sealed with the polyethylene and rubber plug,gas adsorbent 102 does not come into contact with gas even when gasadsorbing device 101 is left in the atmosphere for a long time.Therefore, gas adsorbent 102 does not degrade and can be held in theatmosphere for a long time.

When gas adsorbing device 101 is applied to a vacuum heat insulator,through holes are drilled in rubber plug 111 due to the atmosphericpressure, and gas adsorbent 102 communicates with the space inside thejacket material.

The operation of gas adsorbing device 101 in preparing the vacuum heatinsulator in the present embodiment is the same as that in the firstembodiment.

Third Exemplary Embodiment

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of gas adsorbing device 101 in accordancewith a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 6, container 103 has opening 110, and opening 110 is coveredwith film 112 having gas barrier property to secure the air tightness asa whole. Container 103 is made of polyethylene, and film 112 is alaminated film formed by stacking low-density polyethylene, aluminumfoil, and polyethylene terephthalate film in that order, and film 112 isbonded to container 103 by a known method. Protruding portions 105 ofprotrusions 104 are installed so as to be in contact with the film.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of gas adsorbing device 101 after switchingin accordance with the third exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

Regarding gas adsorbing device 101 having such a structure, operationsand actions are described hereinafter.

Since gas adsorbent 102 is sealed with film 112 having polyethylene andgas barrier property, gas adsorbent 102 does not come into contact withgas even when gas adsorbing device 101 is left in the atmosphere for along time. Therefore, gas adsorbent 102 does not degrade and can be heldin the atmosphere for a long time.

When gas adsorbing device 101 is applied to a vacuum heat insulator,through holes are drilled in film 112, and gas adsorbent 102communicates with the space inside the jacket material.

The operation of gas adsorbing device 101 in preparing the vacuum heatinsulator in the present embodiment is the same as that in the firstembodiment.

Fourth Exemplary Embodiment

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of gas adsorbing device 101 in accordancewith a fourth exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 8, container 103 has a cylindrical shape at least partially, andone side of container 103 has opening 110, and the cross section ofopening 110 is inclined with respect to the longitudinal direction ofcontainer 103. Opening 110 is covered with film 112 having gas barrierproperty to secure the air tightness as a whole. Container 103 is madeof polyethylene, and film 112 is a laminated film formed by stackinglow-density polyethylene, aluminum foil, and polyethylene terephthalatefilm in that order, and film 112 is bonded to container 103 by a knownmethod. Protruding portions 105 of protrusions 104 are installed so asto be in contact with film 112.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of gas adsorbing device 101 after switchingin accordance with the fourth exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

Regarding gas adsorbing device 101 having such a structure, operationsand actions are described hereinafter.

Since gas adsorbent 102 is sealed with film 112 having polyethylene andgas barrier property, gas adsorbent 102 does not come into contact withgas even when gas adsorbing device 101 is left in the atmosphere for along time. Therefore, gas adsorbent 102 does not degrade and can be heldin the atmosphere for a long time.

When gas adsorbing device 101 is applied to a vacuum heat insulator,through holes are drilled in film 112, and gas adsorbent 102communicates with the space inside the jacket material of the vacuumheat insulator.

The operation of gas adsorbing device 101 in preparing the vacuum heatinsulator in the present embodiment is the same as that in the firstembodiment.

Container 103 of the present embodiment is easily processed in terms ofthe shape, and the cost can be kept low.

Specific contents of gas adsorbing device 101 of these embodiments aredescribed hereinafter in examples 1 through 3.

Results using specification having different condition are described incomparative examples.

EXAMPLE 1

Gas adsorbent 102 is made of powdery CuZSM-5.

Container 103 is a bag that is prepared by depositing a part oflow-density polyethylene with another part thereof in laminated filmthat is made of 50 μm-thick low-density polyethylene, 7 μm-thickaluminum foil, and 25 μm-thick polyethylene terephthalate film.

Protrusions 104 and plate-like member 106 are made of iron andintegrally molded. The shape of plate-like member 106 is a square 1 cmon a side. The number of protrusions 104 is 25, the shape of eachprotrusion is a conical shape, and the bottom face of the cone matcheswith the surface of the plate-like member. The distance between the tipsof protruding portions 105 and plate-like member 106 is 5 mm.

Container 103 is decompressed and sealed after gas adsorbent 102 isfilled into it, and the distance between a surface of the laminated filmand the opposite surface thereof is 10 mm.

Gas adsorbing device 101 having this structure is applied to the vacuumheat insulator, and the evaluation is performed.

As a core material, a plate-like object formed by thermally molding anaggregate of glass staple fibers is used. The core material, togetherwith gas adsorbing device 101, is inserted into the jacket materialwhose three sides are previously sealed. The jacket material isinstalled in a vacuum chamber, decompressed to 100 Pa, and sealed. Whenthe atmosphere is introduced into the vacuum chamber, gas adsorbingdevice 101 is changed by the atmospheric pressure, and the gas insidethe jacket material can be adsorbed. According to measurement of thepressure inside the vacuum heat insulator, the pressure is 5 Pa, and thepressure inside the jacket material is reduced by adsorption by the gasadsorbent. The length of the protrusions is shorter than the thicknessof the container, so that the jacket material is not damaged.

The inner pressure after the vacuum heat insulator is held in theatmosphere for one month is 5 Pa, and it is verified that the gasinfiltrating through the jacket material is adsorbed.

EXAMPLE 2

Gas adsorbent 102 is made of powdery CuZSM-5.

Container 103 is a polyethylene-made box body, the width is 30 mm, thedepth is 20 mm, the height is 10 mm, and one face of 30 mm×20 mm ischipped. Film 112 having gas barrier property is a laminated film of 50μm-thick low-density polyethylene, 7 μm-thick aluminum foil, and 25μm-thick nylon film.

Protrusions 104 and plate-like member 106 are made of iron andintegrally molded. The shape of plate-like member 106 is a square 1 cmon a side. The number of protrusions 104 is 25, the shape of eachprotrusion is a conical shape, and the bottom face of the cone matcheswith the surface of the plate-like member 106. The distance between thetips of protruding portions 105 and plate-like member 106 is 5 mm.

In a chamber having argon gas atmosphere, powdery CuZSM-5 is filled intocontainer 103, container 103 is decompressed, the chipped part iscovered with film 112 having gas barrier property and sealed by thermaldeposition.

After the atmosphere is introduced into the chamber, the inside thereofis compressed by the atmospheric pressure, and hence the film 112 partbecomes thin. The thickness of the thinnest part is 7 mm.

Gas adsorbing device 101 having this structure is applied to the vacuumheat insulator, and the evaluation is performed.

As a core material, a plate-like object formed by thermally molding anaggregate of glass staple fibers is used. The core material, togetherwith gas adsorbing device 101, is inserted into the jacket materialwhose three sides are previously sealed. The jacket material isinstalled in a vacuum chamber, decompressed to 100 Pa, and sealed. Whenthe atmosphere is introduced into the vacuum chamber, gas adsorbingdevice 101 is changed by the atmospheric pressure, and the gas insidethe jacket material of the vacuum heat insulator can be adsorbed.According to measurement of the pressure inside the vacuum heatinsulator, the pressure is 5 Pa, and the pressure inside the jacketmaterial is reduced by adsorption by gas adsorbent 102. The length ofprotrusions 104 is shorter than the thickness of container 103, so thatthe jacket material is not damaged.

The inner pressure after the vacuum heat insulator is held in theatmosphere for one month is 5 Pa, and it is verified that the gasinfiltrating through the jacket material is adsorbed.

EXAMPLE 3

Gas adsorbent 102 is made of powdery CuZSM-5.

Container 103 is a polyethylene-made box body, the width is 30 mm, thedepth is 20 mm, the height is 10 mm, and one face of 30 mm×20 mm has 10mm-diameter opening 110.

Protrusions 104 and plate-like member 106 are made of iron andintegrally molded. The shape of plate-like member 106 is a square 1 cmon a side. The number of protrusions 104 is 25, the shape of eachprotrusion is a conical shape, and the bottom face of the cone matcheswith the surface of plate-like member 106. The distance between the tipsof protruding portions 105 and plate-like member 106 is 5 mm.

In a chamber having argon gas atmosphere, powdery CuZSM-5 is filled intocontainer 103, container 103 is decompressed, opening 110 is sealed withbutyl rubber plug 111.

After the atmosphere is introduced into the chamber, the inside thereofis compressed by the atmospheric pressure. The thickness of the thinnestpart of container 103 including butyl rubber plug 111 is 8 mm.

Gas adsorbing device 101 having this structure is applied to the vacuumheat insulator, and the evaluation is performed.

As a core material, a plate-like object formed by thermally molding anaggregate of glass staple fibers is used. The core material, togetherwith gas adsorbing device 101, is inserted into the jacket materialwhose three sides are previously sealed. The jacket material isinstalled in a vacuum chamber, decompressed to 100 Pa, and sealed. Whenthe atmosphere is introduced into the vacuum chamber, gas adsorbingdevice 101 is changed by the atmospheric pressure, and the gas insidethe jacket material of the vacuum heat insulator can be adsorbed.According to measurement of the pressure inside the vacuum heatinsulator, the pressure is 5 Pa, and the pressure inside the jacketmaterial is reduced by adsorption by gas adsorbent 102. The length ofprotrusions 104 is shorter than the thickness of container 103, so thatthe jacket material is not damaged.

The inner pressure after the vacuum heat insulator is held in theatmosphere for one month is 5 Pa, and it is verified that the gasinfiltrating through the jacket material is adsorbed.

COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 1

A vacuum heat insulator is prepared using a gas adsorbing devicedescribed in Japanese Translation of PCT Publication No. H09-512088. Thecondition for preparing the vacuum heat insulator is equivalent to thatof example 1. The gas adsorbing device described in Japanese Translationof PCT Publication No. H09-512088 has a structure where Ba—Li is filledinto a metal container having an opening and the opening is covered withcalcium oxide. The pressure inside the prepared vacuum heat insulator is100 Pa according to measurement. This result shows that Ba—Li does notadsorb the gas inside the vacuum heat insulator. There are followingreasons. In the gas adsorbing device of comparative example 1, the gasbarrier property by calcium oxide is insufficient, and hence Ba—Liadsorbs gas and degrades during preparing the vacuum heat insulator.

COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 2

A vacuum heat insulator is prepared using a gas adsorbing device whereCuZSM-5 is previously filled into a bag made of non-woven fabric. Thecondition for preparing the vacuum heat insulator is equivalent to thatof example 1. The pressure inside the vacuum heat insulator is 100 Paaccording to measurement. This result shows that CuZSM-5 does not adsorbthe gas inside the vacuum heat insulator. That is because the gaspermeability of the non-woven fabric is large and hence CuZSM-5 adsorbsgas and degrades during preparing the vacuum heat insulator.

The gas adsorbing device of the present invention has a containerincluding an opening, a partition for blocking the opening, and a gasadsorbent and gas that is not adsorbed by the gas adsorbent in theclosed space surrounded by the container and the partition. The gaspressure inside the closed space is lower than the atmospheric pressure.

The atmospheric pressure means gas pressure in an ambient atmospherewhere the gas adsorbing device is held or an ambient atmosphere wherework for installing the gas adsorbing device in a vacuum apparatus isperformed. It is considered that the atmospheric pressure is about 1013hPa at about 0 m above sea level, but is lower than 1013 hPa at highaltitude above sea level or in an aircraft. The atmospheric pressuresomewhat varies in response to the weather condition such as cyclone oranticyclone even at about 0 m above sea level.

When the gas pressure inside the closed space is lower—evenslightly—than the atmospheric pressure, this gas adsorbing device can beused. When an impact is applied from the outside during holding of thegas adsorbing device or in installing it in the vacuum apparatus,however, the partition separates from the container in the atmosphereand the gas adsorbent degrades.

It is preferable that the force for pressing the partition to thecontainer is stronger, the gas pressure in the closed space is 500 hPaor lower, and more preferably the gas pressure is 300 hPa or lower.

The closed space is a space that does not communicate with other spacewithout passing an object having a certain shape. The closed space is,for example, the inside of a spherical shell.

The partition defines the closed space in the following manner. Thepartition has the same size and shape as those of the opening of thecontainer and a clearance does not occur between the partition and theopening of the container, or the partition is larger than the opening ofthe container and the opening is completely covered with the partition.

The pressure of the gas is applied to a surface of a material when thesurface is in contact with the gas. The pressure is applied from manydirections. Therefore, when the material is placed in a uniform pressureatmosphere, total force from the gas is zero and no net force is appliedto the material.

When the pressure of the gas that is in contact with the material is notuniform, total force from the gas is not zero and a net force is appliedto the material. For instance, when gas pressure applied to one surfaceof the plate-like material is different from gas pressure applied to theother surface thereof, force of the direction from the higher-pressuresurface to the lower-pressure surface occurs in the plate-like material.

Thanks of the above-mentioned physical mechanism, discontinuity betweenthe gas adsorbent and the external space is switched to continuitybetween them in the gas adsorbing device. The switching from thediscontinuity to the continuity in the gas adsorbing device ininstalling the gas adsorbing device in the vacuum apparatus is describedin detail.

First, in the gas adsorbing device, the gas that is not adsorbed by thegas adsorbent is filled in the closed space, and the gas pressure islower than the atmospheric pressure.

Therefore, the partition receives force for pressing the opening in thecontainer from the atmosphere, and hence suppresses gas flow between theinside and outside of the container.

Next, the inside of the vacuum apparatus having the gas adsorbing deviceis decompressed. When the pressure inside the closed space of the gasadsorbing device equals to the pressure outside it, the force forpressing the partition to the container does not work, and the partitionseparates from the container. Thus, the gas adsorbent communicates withthe external space of the gas adsorbing device, and the gas adsorbentcan be made to work.

In the gas adsorbing device of the present invention, both the containerand partition are gas hardly-permeable.

The gas hardly-permeability means that the gas permeability as propertyintrinsic to material is small, and the gas permeability of thecontainer and partition made of the material is 10⁴ [cm³/m²-day-atm] orlower, more preferably 10³ [cm³/m²-day-atm] or lower.

Specifically, an example of the material is a metal group such ascopper, iron or aluminum, or a plastic group such asethylene-vinylalcohol copolymer, polyacrylonitrile, nylon 6, nylon 66,nylon 12, polybutylene terephthalate, polybutylene naphthalate,polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene naphthalate, polyvinylidenefluoride, polyvinylidene chloride, ethylene-tetrafluoroethylenecopolymer, polytetrafluoroethylene, polyimide, polycarbonate,polyacetate, polystyrene, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS),polypropylene, or polyethylene. The present invention is not limited tothese.

Since both the container and partition are gas hardly-permeable, evenwhen the gas adsorbing device is in an atmosphere containing gasadsorbed by the gas adsorbent, the gas adsorbed by the gas adsorbentinfiltrates through the container only a little. The degradation of thegas adsorbent can be suppressed.

In the gas adsorbing device of the present invention, at least a part ofat least one of the container and partition is an elastic body.

When the elastic body deforms substantially proportionally to the stressfrom the outside and the stress does not work, the elastic body returnsto a normal state under no stress. An example of the elastic body isrubber.

Since at least a part of at least one of the container and partition isan elastic body, even when the opening of the container and thepartition have different shapes in a state under no pressure, thecontainer and the partition are deformed by pressure to improve thesealing property.

Therefore, even when the gas adsorbing device is in an atmospherecontaining gas adsorbed by the gas adsorbent, the degradation of the gasadsorbent due to infiltration of gas from the outside of the gasadsorbing device can be suppressed.

Metal and plastics are considered to be elastic bodies in a broad sensebecause they elastically deform with slight distortion, but othermaterial having a large ratio of distortion to stress is morepreferable.

The gas adsorbing device receives an external force during handlinguntil it is installed in the vacuum apparatus. Therefore, it ispreferable that the deformation due to distortion is small in thecontainer, and it is more preferable that the partition is an elasticbody.

In the gas adsorbing device of the present invention, the gas adsorbentis covered with a gas-permeable packaging material.

The gas permeability of the gas-permeable packaging material is 10⁸[cm³/m²-day-atm] or higher, and preferably 10¹⁰ [cm³/m²-day-atm] orhigher.

The packaging material is a film or sheet formed by braiding fibers orcollecting them with a binder. The packaging material is a continuousbody from a macro viewpoint, but has an infinite number of openingthrough holes from a micro viewpoint.

The packaging material may be molded in a bag shape, and may include agas adsorbent. The form of the bag may be a pillow bag or a gazette bag,but the present invention is not limited to these. All sides of thepackaging material do not need to be closed, and some sides may beopened.

The flow speed of gas between the inside and outside of the containervaries dependently on a producing condition of the gas adsorbing deviceor a decompressing condition set when the gas adsorbing device isinstalled in the vacuum apparatus. When the speed is high, the gasadsorbent, if powdery, can be scattered by rapid gas flow. However, thescattering of the gas adsorbent can be suppressed by making the throughholes in the packaging material smaller than the grain size of the gasadsorbent. When the packaging material has an opening side, the openingside is preferably set in the direction opposite to the opening of thecontainer.

Since the gas permeability of the packaging material is extremely large,the packaging material does not disturb the continuity of the spacethrough which gas permeates, and the adsorbing characteristic of the gasadsorbing device does not degrade.

As the gas-permeable packaging material, non-woven fabric, gauze, wiremesh, or the like is used, but the present invention is not limited tothese. The packaging material is any material as long as it is acontinuous body from a macro viewpoint and has many opening throughholes from a micro viewpoint.

The gas adsorbing device of the present invention has a gas-permeabledivider between the opening of the container and the gas adsorbent.

The gas permeability of the gas-permeable divider is 10⁸[cm³/m²-day-atm] or higher, and preferably 10¹⁰ [cm³/m²-day-atm] orhigher.

The divider divides space into a plurality of parts from a macroviewpoint, and is spatially continuous and has gas permeability from amicro viewpoint.

The divider is installed between the gas adsorbent and the opening ofthe container and is in contact with the inner wall of the container.

The flow speed of gas between the inside and outside of the containerwhen the partition separates from the container varies dependently on aproducing condition of the gas adsorbing device or a decompressingcondition set when the gas adsorbing device is installed in the vacuumapparatus. When the flow speed of gas is high, rapid gas flow occurs inthe container of the gas adsorbing device. When the gas adsorbent ispowdery, the gas adsorbent can be scattered by the rapidly coming gas.However, the scattering of the gas adsorbent can be suppressed by makingthe through holes in the divider smaller than the grain size of the gasadsorbent.

Since the gas permeability of the divider is extremely large, thedivider does not disturb the continuity of the space through which gaspermeates, and the adsorbing characteristic of the gas adsorbing devicedoes not degrade.

As the gas-permeable divider, glass wool, foam of plastics, non-wovenfabric, wire mesh, or the like is used, but the present invention is notlimited to these. The divider is any material as long as it is acontinuous body from a macro viewpoint and has many opening throughholes from a micro viewpoint.

In the gas adsorbing device of the present invention, the container iscovered with a gas hardly-permeable covering material.

When the inside of the covering material is filled with gas that is notadsorbed by the gas adsorbent, the external space of the container isfilled with the gas that is not adsorbed by the gas adsorbent.Therefore, even when a slight clearance exists between the inner wall ofthe container and the partition and gas flows between the closed spaceformed of the inner wall and partition and the external space of thecontainer, the gas adsorbent does not degrade. Therefore, the gasadsorbing device can be left in the atmosphere for a long time.

The gas hardly-permeable covering material means a covering materialwhose gas permeability is 10⁴ [cm³/m²-day-atm] or lower, and preferably10² [cm³/m²-day-atm] or lower.

Specifically, the covering material is prepared by forming, in a bagshape, a film or sheet of plastics such as ethylene-vinylalcoholcopolymer, nylon, polyethylene terephthalate, or polypropylene. However,the present invention is not limited to these. Preferably, the gasbarrier property is increased by sticking metal foil to the plastic filmor evaporating metal onto it. Metal applicable to the metal foil orevaporation can be gold, copper, or aluminum, but the present inventionis not limited to these. The gas permeability is a value intrinsic tomaterial and does not always satisfy the above-mentioned conditions asthe covering material, so that the thickness thereof is made appropriateso as to satisfy the above-mentioned conditions as the coveringmaterial.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention is notlimited by these embodiments.

Fifth Exemplary Embodiment

FIG. 10 is a sectional view of gas adsorbing device 201 at atmosphericpressure in accordance with a fifth exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention. FIG. 11 is a sectional view of vacuum heat insulator 207employing gas adsorbing device 201 in accordance with the fifthexemplary embodiment. FIG. 12 is a sectional view of gas adsorbingdevice 201 under decompression in accordance with the fifth exemplaryembodiment.

As shown in FIG. 10, gas adsorbing device 201 has the followingelements:

-   -   container 203 including opening 202;    -   rubber-made partition 204 for blocking opening 202; and    -   gas adsorbent 205 made of CuZSM-5 type zeolite and non-adsorbent        gas 206 that is not adsorbed by gas adsorbent 205 in the closed        space surrounded by container 203 and partition 204.        The gas pressure inside the closed space is lower than the        atmospheric pressure.

As shown in FIG. 11, in vacuum heat insulator 207, gas adsorbing device201 and core material 208 are covered with jacket material 209, and theinside of jacket material 209 is decompressed and sealed.

Operations and actions when gas adsorbing device 201 having such astructure is applied to vacuum heat insulator 207 are describedhereinafter.

As shown in FIG. 10, non-adsorbent gas 206 is filled into the closedspace formed of container 203 and partition 204, and the pressure ofnon-adsorbent gas 206 is lower than the atmospheric pressure. Since theatmospheric pressure is higher than the pressure inside container 203,partition 204 is pressed to opening 202 of container 203 with thepressure equivalent to the pressure difference between the atmosphericpressure and the pressure inside container 203. Since partition 204 ismade of rubber, partition 204 is deformed and fast stuck to opening 202when being pressed to opening 202. Thus, the closed space is formed ofcontainer 203 and partition 204, infiltration of air into container 203is suppressed, and the degradation of gas adsorbent 205 can besuppressed during holding gas adsorbing device 201.

When gas adsorbent 205 is installed inside vacuum heat insulator 207,gas adsorbent 205 adsorbs the gas inside vacuum heat insulator 207, sothat gas adsorbent 205 is required to communicate with the externalspace of container 203. This is achieved in the following process.

When gas adsorbing device 201 is placed at the atmospheric pressure, thepressure inside container 203 is lower than the atmospheric pressure, sothat partition 204 is pressed to container 203 from the outside.

Gas adsorbing device 201 is installed inside jacket material 209 ofvacuum heat insulator 207 and then the inside of jacket material 209 isdecompressed, thereby decreasing the pressure difference between theinside and outside of container 203. When decompression is furtherperformed, the pressure difference between the inside and outside ofcontainer 203 drops out, and the force for pressing partition 204 tocontainer 203 does not work. Therefore, partition 204 separates from thecontainer 203.

As shown in FIG. 12, when partition 204 separates from the container203, gas adsorbent 205 communicates with the external space of gasadsorbing device 201 through opening 202 and the adsorption of gas isallowed.

As discussed above, partition 204 separates from container 203 just whenthe pressure outside container 203 becomes equal to the pressure insideit. Therefore, in preparing gas adsorbing device 201, the pressure atwhich partition 204 separates from container 203 can be arbitrarilycontrolled by controlling the pressure of the non-adsorbent gas filledinto container 203.

Vacuum heat insulator 207 is prepared by inserting gas adsorbing device201 and core material 208 into jacket material 209 that is previouslyformed in a bag shape by sealing three sides, installing jacket material209 in a vacuum chamber and decompressing it, then sealing a non-sealedpart of jacket material 209 by thermal deposition.

Sixth Exemplary Embodiment

FIG. 13 is a sectional view of gas adsorbing device 201 in accordancewith a sixth exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 13, in gas adsorbing device 201, gas adsorbent 205 iscovered with packaging material 210, and container 203 is covered withcovering material 211. In FIG. 13, packaging material 210 is made ofnon-woven fabric. Covering material 211 is prepared by thermallydepositing a plastic laminated film. A part of low-density polyethyleneof a laminated film is faced to the other part thereof, and four sidesare thermally deposited, thereby separating the space inside coveringmaterial 211 from the space outside it. Here, the laminated film isformed by stacking the low-density polyethylene, aluminum foil, andnylon in that order

Since covering material 211 includes aluminum foil, the gas permeabilityis extremely small, and the amount of the gas infiltrating into coveringmaterial 211 is extremely small. Even when gas adsorbing device 201 isleft in the atmosphere for a long time, gas adsorbent 205 hardlydegrades and the essential adsorbing characteristic can be obtained.

When the inside of container 203 is decompressed, the gas around gasadsorbent 205 is discharged to the inside of container 203 throughpackaging material 210. When the discharge speed is high, gas adsorbent205 can scatter disadvantageously. However, gas adsorbent 205 remainsinside packaging material 210 and hence does not scatter.

When gas adsorbing device 201 is applied to vacuum heat insulator 207,gas adsorbent 205 does not scatter inside packaging material 210 andvacuum heat insulator 207 can be easily recycled.

For reproducing the function of gas adsorbing device 201 of the presentembodiment, covering material 211 is broken and removed before using it.The operation of gas adsorbing device 201 under decompression is similarto that of the fifth exemplary embodiment.

Seventh Exemplary Embodiment

FIG. 14 is a sectional view of gas adsorbing device 201 in accordancewith a seventh exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 14, in gas adsorbing device 201, divider 212 isinstalled between gas adsorbent 205 and partition 204. Divider 212 ismade of glass wool.

When the inside of container 203 is decompressed, the gas around gasadsorbent 205 is discharged to the outside of container 203 throughdivider 212. When the discharge speed is high, gas adsorbent 205 canscatter disadvantageously. However, gas adsorbent 205 remains insidedivider 212 and hence does not scatter.

When gas adsorbing device 201 is applied to vacuum heat insulator 207,gas adsorbent 205 does not scatter inside container 203 and vacuum heatinsulator 207 can be easily recycled.

The operation of gas adsorbing device 201 under decompression is similarto that of the fifth exemplary embodiment.

Specific contents of gas adsorbing devices 201 of these exemplaryembodiments are described in examples 4 through 6.

EXAMPLE 4

A glass bottle with an internal volume of 10 ml is used as container203. A circular rubber plate is used as partition 204. CuZSM-5 typezeolite is used as gas adsorbent 205, and Ar gas is used as thenon-adsorbent gas. The diameter of the opening of the glass bottle is 10mm, and the diameter of the rubber plate is 15 mm. The center of opening202 of container 203 is aligned to the center of the rubber plate,thereby preparing gas adsorbing device 201. Ar gas is filled so that thepressure becomes 500 hPa. Prepared gas adsorbing devices 201 isinstalled in a vacuum chamber, and its operation is verified.

When the inside of the vacuum chamber is decompressed to 500 hPa,partition 204 separates from container 203. Thus, the pressure whenpartition 204 separates from container 203 is the same as that insidecontainer 203. The pressure at which gas adsorbent 205 communicates withthe external atmosphere can be arbitrarily controlled by adjusting thepressure inside container 203.

For evaluating the force for pressing partition 204 and container 203while gas adsorbent 205 is held in the atmosphere, tensile strength ofcontainer 203 and partition 204 is measured at atmospheric pressure. Thetensile direction is perpendicular to the surface direction of partition204.

The tensile strength of container 203 and partition 204 is 4.08 N. Thisvalue is derived by multiplying the area of opening 202 by the pressuredifference between the inside and outside of container 203.

EXAMPLE 5

The operation of gas adsorbing device 201 where the pressure insidecontainer 203 is 300 hPa is verified. Gas adsorbing device 201 isinstalled inside the vacuum chamber, and decompressed. When the insideof the vacuum chamber reaches 300 hPa, container 203 separates frompartition 204.

EXAMPLE 6

In the present example, container 203 is covered with laminated coveringmaterial 211 formed by stacking nylon, aluminum foil, and polyethyleneterephthalate in that order. When the adsorbing characteristic of gasadsorbent 205 is evaluated after a lapse of one month since gasadsorbing device 201 is prepared, the degradation of the adsorbingcapability is not recognized. That is because container 203 is coveredwith covering material 211 to prevent gas from infiltrating intocontainer 203.

The gas adsorbing device of the present invention has a container thathas an opening at one end and is at least partially cylindrical, apartition that is in contact with the cylindrical inner wall of thecontainer, and a gas adsorbent and gas that is not adsorbed by the gasadsorbent that are filled in the closed space surrounded by thecontainer and the partition.

The cylindrical shape is a shape where sectional areas and sectionalshapes in a plurality of places are substantially the same, andcorresponds to a column, triangle pole, or square pole, for example. Thesectional shape is not limited to these, but may be rhomboid,parallelogram, trapezoid, pentagon, or ellipse.

The gas that is not adsorbed by the gas adsorbent is gas that the gasadsorbent cannot adsorb or hardly adsorb. When the gas adsorbent canadsorb only nitrogen or oxygen, the non-adsorbent gas is inert gas orthe like such as argon gas.

The partition is in contact with the cylindrical inner wall of the atleast partially cylindrical container, and a closed space is formed ofthe container and partition.

The closed space is a space that does not communicate with other spacewithout passing an object having a certain shape. The closed space is,for example, the inside of a spherical shell.

The partition is preferably prepared so that its size and shape are thesame as those of the inner wall of the cylindrical part of the containerand a clearance does not occur between the inner wall of the cylindricalpart and the partition. In industrial production, however, it isdifficult that the size and shape of the partition are made exactly thesame as those of the inner wall of the cylindrical part of thecontainer. Therefore, it is preferable that the partition is slightlylarger than the inner wall of the cylindrical part, the inner wall isfast stuck to the partition by deformation of one of them, and thesealing property of the closed space is secured.

Since the gas that is not adsorbed by the gas adsorbent is filled in theclosed space, infiltration of the gas of the atmosphere where the gasadsorbing device is placed is suppressed. Therefore, the gas adsorbentdoes not come into contact with the gas of the atmosphere where the gasadsorbing device is placed, so that the gas adsorbent does not degradeeven when work of installing the gas adsorbing device in the vacuumapparatus in the atmosphere of about 1 atm pressure is performed. In thevacuum apparatus, the gas adsorbent is required to come into contactwith the atmosphere where the gas adsorbing device is placed. This isachieved by the following mechanism.

When the gas adsorbing device is installed in the vacuum apparatus andthen the inside of the vacuum apparatus is decompressed, thenon-adsorbent gas existing in the closed space formed of the containerand partition expands. The partition is moved toward the opening of thecylindrical part by the pressure generated by the expansion, thecylindrical part of the container separates from the partition, and thegas adsorbent communicates with the internal space of the vacuumapparatus. The inside of the vacuum apparatus has been decompressed atthe time when the cylindrical container separates from the partition.Therefore, the gas adsorbent can adsorb the residual gas in the vacuumapparatus without coming into contact with the atmosphere of about 1 atmpressure.

In the gas adsorbing device of the present invention, both thecylindrical part and non-cylindrical part are gas hardly-permeable.

The gas hardly-permeability means that the gas permeability as propertyintrinsic to material is small, and the gas permeability of thecontainer made of the material is 10⁴ [cm³/m²-day-atm] or lower, morepreferably 10³ [cm³/m²-day-atm] or lower.

Specifically, an example of the material is a metal group such ascopper, iron or aluminum, or a plastic group such asethylene-vinylalcohol copolymer, polyacrylonitrile, nylon 6, nylon 66,nylon 12, polybutylene terephthalate, polybutylene naphthalate,polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene naphthalate, polyvinylidenefluoride, polyvinylidene chloride, ethylene-tetrafluoroethylenecopolymer, polytetrafluoroethylene, polyimide, polycarbonate,polyacetate, polystyrene, ABS, polypropylene, or polyethylene. Thepresent invention is not limited to these.

Since both the cylindrical part and the non-cylindrical part of thecontainer are gas hardly-permeable, even when the gas adsorbing deviceis in an atmosphere containing gas adsorbed by the gas adsorbent, thegas adsorbed by the gas adsorbent infiltrates through the container onlya little. The degradation of the gas adsorbent can be thereforesuppressed.

In the gas adsorbing device of the present invention, the partition isgas hardly-permeable.

The gas hardly-permeability means that the gas permeability as propertyintrinsic to material is small, and the gas permeability of thepartition made of the material is 10⁴ [cm³/m²-day-atm] or lower, morepreferably 10³ [cm³/m²-day-atm] or lower.

Specifically, an example of the material is a metal group such ascopper, iron or aluminum, or a plastic group such asethylene-vinylalcohol copolymer, polyacrylonitrile, nylon 6, nylon 66,nylon 12, polybutylene terephthalate, polybutylene naphthalate,polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene naphthalate, polyvinylidenefluoride, polyvinylidene chloride, ethylene-tetrafluoroethylenecopolymer, polytetrafluoroethylene, polyimide, polycarbonate,polyacetate, polystyrene, ABS, polypropylene, or polyethylene. Thepresent invention is not limited to these.

Since the partition is gas hardly-permeable, even when the gas adsorbingdevice is in an atmosphere containing gas adsorbed by the gas adsorbent,the gas adsorbed by the gas adsorbent infiltrates through the containeronly a little. The degradation of the gas adsorbent can be thereforesuppressed.

In the gas adsorbing device of the present invention, at least a part ofat least one of the cylindrical part of the container and the partitionis an elastic body.

When the elastic body deforms substantially proportionally to the stressfrom the outside and the stress does not work, the elastic body returnsto a normal state under no stress. An example of the elastic body isrubber.

At least a part of at least one of the cylindrical part of the containerand the partition is an elastic body, as discussed above. Therefore,when the partition slightly larger than the sectional area of thecylindrical inner wall is disposed on the cylindrical inner wall, one ofthe cylindrical part and the partition deforms to eliminate theclearance between the cylindrical part and the partition, therebyimproving the sealing property.

Therefore, even when the gas adsorbing device is in an atmospherecontaining gas adsorbed by the gas adsorbent, the degradation of the gasadsorbent due to infiltration of gas from the outside of the gasadsorbing device can be suppressed.

Metal and plastics are considered to be elastic bodies in a broad sensebecause they elastically deform with slight distortion, but othermaterial having a large ratio of distortion to stress is morepreferable.

The gas adsorbing device receives an external force during handlinguntil it is installed in the vacuum apparatus. Therefore, it ispreferable that the deformation due to distortion is small in thecontainer, and it is more preferable that the partition is an elasticbody.

In the gas adsorbing device of the present invention, the gas adsorbentis covered with a gas-permeable packaging material.

The gas permeability of the gas-permeable packaging material is 10⁸[cm³/m²-day-atm] or higher, and preferably 10¹⁰ [cm³/m²-day-atm] orhigher.

The packaging material is a film or sheet formed by braiding fibers orcollecting them with a binder. The packaging material is a continuousbody from a macro viewpoint, but has an infinite number of openingthrough holes from a micro viewpoint.

The packaging material may be molded in a bag shape, and may include agas adsorbent. The form of the bag may be a pillow bag or a gazette bag,but the present invention is not limited to these. All sides of thepackaging material do not need to be closed, and some sides may beopened.

The pressure at which the partition separates from the cylindrical partof the container varies dependently on a producing condition of the gasadsorbing device or a decompressing condition set when the gas adsorbingdevice is installed in the vacuum apparatus. When the pressure is high,gas rapidly joins between the external space of the gas adsorbing deviceand the cylindrical container. When the gas adsorbent is powdery, thegas adsorbent can be scattered by the rapidly joining gas. However, thescattering of the gas adsorbent can be suppressed by making the throughholes in the packaging material smaller than the grain size of the gasadsorbent. When the packaging material has an opening side, the openingside is preferably set in the direction opposite to the opening of thecylindrical container.

Since the gas permeability of the packaging material is extremely large,the packaging material does not disturb the continuity of the spacethrough which gas permeates, and the adsorbing characteristic of the gasadsorbing device does not degrade.

As the gas-permeable packaging material, non-woven fabric, gauze, wiremesh, or the like is used, but the present invention is not limited tothese. The packaging material is any material as long as it is acontinuous body from a macro viewpoint and has many opening throughholes from a micro viewpoint.

The gas adsorbing device of the present invention has a gas-permeabledivider between the partition and the gas adsorbent.

The gas permeability of the gas-permeable divider is 10⁸[cm³/m²-day-atm] or higher, and preferably 10¹⁰ [cm³/m²-day-atm] orhigher.

The divider divides space into a plurality of parts from a macroviewpoint, and is spatially continuous and has gas permeability from amicro viewpoint.

The divider is installed between the gas adsorbent and the opening ofthe cylindrical container and is in contact with the inner wall of thecylindrical container.

The atmosphere pressure at which the partition separates from thecylindrical part of the container varies dependently on the producingcondition of the gas adsorbing device or the decompressing condition setwhen the gas adsorbing device is installed in the vacuum apparatus. Whenthe pressure is high, gas rapidly joins between the external space ofthe gas adsorbing device and the cylindrical container. When the gasadsorbent is powdery, the gas adsorbent can be scattered by the rapidlyjoining gas. However, the scattering of the gas adsorbent can besuppressed by making the through holes in the divider smaller than thegrain size of the gas adsorbent.

Since the gas permeability of the divider is extremely large, thedivider does not disturb the continuity of the space through which gaspermeates, and the adsorbing characteristic of the gas adsorbing devicedoes not degrade.

As the gas-permeable divider, glass wool, foam of plastics, non-wovenfabric, wire mesh, or the like is used, but the present invention is notlimited to these. The divider is any material as long as it is acontinuous body from a macro viewpoint and has many opening throughholes from a micro viewpoint.

In the gas adsorbing device of the present invention, the container iscovered with a gas hardly-permeable covering material.

When the inside of the covering material is filled with gas that is notadsorbed by the gas adsorbent, the external space of the cylindricalpart of the container is filled with the gas that is not adsorbed by thegas adsorbent. Therefore, even when a slight clearance exists betweenthe inner wall of the cylindrical part of the container and thepartition and gas flows between the closed space formed of them and theexternal space of the cylindrical part, the gas adsorbent does notdegrade. Therefore, the gas adsorbing device can be left in theatmosphere for a long time.

The gas hardly-permeable covering material means a covering materialwhose gas permeability is 10⁵ [cm³/m²-day-atm] or lower, and preferably10² [cm³/m²-day-atm] or lower.

Specifically, the covering material is prepared by forming, in a bagshape, a film or sheet of plastics such as ethylene-vinylalcoholcopolymer, nylon, polyethylene terephthalate, or polypropylene. However,the present invention is not limited to these. Preferably, the gasbarrier property is increased by sticking metal foil to the plastic filmor evaporating metal onto it. Metal applicable to the metal foil orevaporation can be gold, copper, or aluminum, but the present inventionis not limited to these. The gas permeability is a value intrinsic tomaterial and does not always satisfy the above-mentioned conditions asthe covering material. In this case, the thickness thereof is madeappropriate so as to satisfy the above-mentioned conditions as thecovering material.

In the gas adsorbing device of the present invention, the opening of thecontainer is sealed with a gas hardly-permeable film.

When the space between the film and the partition is filled with gasthat is not adsorbed by the gas adsorbent, the external space of thepartition is filled with the non-adsorbent gas. Therefore, even when aslight clearance exists between the inner wall of the cylindrical partof the container and the partition and gas flows between the closedspace formed of them and the space between the partition and the film,the gas adsorbent does not degrade. Therefore, the gas adsorbing devicecan be left in the atmosphere for a long time.

The gas hardly-permeable film is formed by molding metal or plasticsinto a thin shape, and is a covering material whose gas permeability is10⁴ [cm³/m²-day-atm] or lower, and preferably 10² [cm³/m²-day-atm] orlower.

Specifically, the film is made of plastics such as ethylene-vinylalcoholcopolymer, nylon, polyethylene terephthalate, or polypropylene. However,the present invention is not limited to these. Preferably, the gasbarrier property is increased by sticking metal foil to the plastic filmor evaporating metal onto it. Metal applicable to the metal foil orevaporation can be gold, copper, or aluminum, but the present inventionis not limited to these. The gas permeability is a value intrinsic tomaterial, and hence does not always satisfy the above-mentionedconditions as the sealing material. In this case, the thickness thereofis made appropriate so as to satisfy the above-mentioned conditions asthe sealing material.

The cylindrical part of the container and the film can be sealed byadhesion or the like by ultrasonic deposition or epoxy resin. Thesealing method is not limited to this as long as the gas permeation canbe suppressed in the sealing part.

The amount of the gas hardly-permeable film required for covering onlythe opening of the container is small, and the cost can be reduced.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention is notlimited by these embodiments.

Eighth Exemplary Embodiment

FIG. 15 is a sectional view of gas adsorbing device 301 at atmosphericpressure in accordance with an eighth exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention. FIG. 16 is a sectional view of vacuum heat insulator307 employing gas adsorbing device 301 in accordance with the eighthexemplary embodiment. FIG. 17 is a sectional view of gas adsorbingdevice 301 under decompression in accordance with the eighth exemplaryembodiment.

As shown in FIG. 15, gas adsorbing device 301 has the followingelements:

-   -   cylindrical container 303 that has opening 302 at its one end        and is at least partially cylindrical;    -   rubber-made partition 304 that is in contact with the inner wall        of the cylindrical part of cylindrical container 303; and    -   gas adsorbent 305 made of CuZSM-5 type zeolite and non-adsorbent        gas 306 that is not adsorbed by gas adsorbent 305 that are        filled in the closed space surrounded by cylindrical container        303 and partition 304.

As shown in FIG. 16, in vacuum heat insulator 307, gas adsorbing device301 and core material 308 are covered with jacket material 309, and theinside of jacket material 309 is decompressed and sealed.

Operations and actions when gas adsorbing device 301 having such astructure is applied to vacuum heat insulator 307 are describedhereinafter.

As shown in FIG. 15, non-adsorbent gas 306 is filled into the closedspace formed of cylindrical container 303 and partition 304, and thevolume of the closed space is determined so as to keep a balance betweenthe pressure of non-adsorbent gas 306 and the atmospheric pressure.Since partition 304 is made of rubber, partition 304 is deformed to thesame shape as that of the inner wall of the container, and the sealingproperty of the cylindrical container 303 and partition 304 is secured.Therefore, gas does not infiltrate into the closed space even at theatmospheric pressure, and the degradation of gas adsorbent 305 issuppressed. The relative positions between cylindrical container 303 andpartition 304 are not fixed, so that partition 304 moves in thelongitudinal direction of cylindrical container 303 when a force in thelongitudinal direction of cylindrical container 303 is applied topartition 304.

In order to adsorb gas existing in the space outside cylindricalcontainer 303 under decompression, gas adsorbent 305 in cylindricalcontainer 303, is required to communicate with the space outsidecylindrical container 303. This is achieved in the following process.

When gas adsorbing device 301 is placed at the atmospheric pressure, abalance is kept between the atmospheric pressure and the pressure ofnon-adsorbent gas 306 in the closed space surrounded by cylindricalcontainer 303 and partition 304. When the atmosphere where gas adsorbingdevice 301 is placed is decompressed, the pressure of non-adsorbent gas306 inside the closed space is larger than the pressure outside theclosed space, and difference occurs between the pressure applied to thesurface of partition 304 on the closed space side and the surface ofpartition 304 on the external space side. This pressure differencecauses partition 304 to move along cylindrical container 303 to theexternal space side, namely to the opening 302 side, thereby increasingthe volume of the closed space. When the material amount in the closedspace is constant, partition 304 moves until the pressures inside andoutside the closed space become the same. When decompression is furtherperformed, partition 304 further moves toward the opening 302 ofcylindrical container 303 and separates from cylindrical container 303.

As shown in FIG. 17, when partition 304 separates from cylindricalcontainer 303, gas adsorbent 305 communicates with the external space ofgas adsorbing device 301 through opening 302 and the adsorption of gasis allowed.

Vacuum heat insulator 307 is prepared by inserting gas adsorbing device301 and core material 308 into jacket material 309 that is previouslyformed in a bag shape by sealing three sides, installing jacket material309 in a vacuum chamber and decompressing it, then sealing a non-sealedpart of jacket material 309 by thermal deposition.

The volume of the closed space surrounded by cylindrical container 303and partition 304 under decompression is calculated as below.

According to Boyle-Charles law, the product of the volume and pressureof the gas in the closed space is constant, so that“volume of closed space at atmospheric pressure×atmosphericpressure=volume of closed space under decompression×pressure underdecompression”is obtained. Therefore, the volume of the closed space underdecompression is as follows,“volume of closed space under decompression=volume of closed space atatmospheric pressure/(pressure under decompression/atmosphericpressure)”.

Under a static condition, the pressure when partition 304 reachesopening 302 equals to the pressure at which gas adsorbent 305communicates with the external atmosphere. Therefore, the followingrelationship is satisfied,“volume of cylindrical container 303/volume of closed space atatmospheric pressure=atmospheric pressure/pressure at which gasadsorbent 305 communicates with external atmosphere”.Therefore,“pressure at which gas adsorbent 305 communicates with externalatmosphere=atmospheric pressure×volume of closed space at atmosphericpressure/volume of cylindrical container 303”is obtained.

As a result, the following is found. The pressure at which gas adsorbent305 communicates with the external atmosphere is proportional to theratio of the volume of the closed space at the atmospheric pressure tothe volume of cylindrical container 303. These values can be controlledin designing gas adsorbing device 301. Making the values appropriateallows control of the pressure at which gas adsorbent 305 communicateswith the external atmosphere.

Ninth Exemplary Embodiment

FIG. 18 is a sectional view of gas adsorbing device 301 in accordancewith a ninth exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 18, in gas adsorbing device 301, gas adsorbent 305 iscovered with packaging material 310, and cylindrical container 303 iscovered with covering material 311. In FIG. 18, packaging material 310is made of non-woven fabric. Covering material 311 is prepared bythermally depositing a plastic laminated film. A part of low-densitypolyethylene of a laminated film is faced to the other part thereof, andfour sides are thermally deposited, thereby separating the space insidecovering material 311 from the space outside it. Here, the laminatedfilm is formed by stacking the low-density polyethylene, aluminum foil,and nylon in that order

Since covering material 311 includes aluminum foil, the gas permeabilityis extremely small, and the amount of the gas infiltrating into coveringmaterial 311 is extremely small. Even when gas adsorbing device 301 isleft in the atmosphere for a long time, gas adsorbent 305 hardlydegrades and the essential adsorbing characteristic can be obtained.

When the periphery of cylindrical container 303 is decompressed, the gasaround gas adsorbent 305 is discharged to the outside of cylindricalcontainer 303 through packaging material 310. When the discharge speedis high, gas adsorbent 305 can scatter disadvantageously. However, gasadsorbent 305 remains inside packaging material 310 and hence does notscatter.

When gas adsorbing device 301 is applied to vacuum heat insulator 307,gas adsorbent 305 does not scatter inside packaging material 310 andvacuum heat insulator 307 can be easily recycled.

For reproducing the function of gas adsorbing device 301 of the presentembodiment, covering material 311 is broken and removed before using it.The operation of gas adsorbing device 301 under decompression is similarto that of the eighth exemplary embodiment.

Tenth Exemplary Embodiment

FIG. 19 is a sectional view of gas adsorbing device 301 in accordancewith a tenth exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 19, in gas adsorbing device 301, divider 312 isinstalled between gas adsorbent 305 and partition 304. Gas permeationthrough opening 302 is suppressed by seal 313. Divider 312 is made ofglass wool. Seal 313 is a plastic laminated film, and formed by stackingnylon, aluminum foil, and nylon in that order. Seal 313 is stuck tocylindrical container 303 with epoxy resin and separates the spaceinside cylindrical container 303 from the space outside it.

Since seal 313 includes aluminum foil, the gas permeability is extremelysmall, and the amount of the gas infiltrating into cylindrical container303 is extremely small. Even when gas adsorbing device 301 is left inthe atmosphere for a long time, gas adsorbent 305 hardly degrades andthe essential adsorbing characteristic can be obtained.

When the periphery of cylindrical container 303 is decompressed, the gasaround gas adsorbent 305 is discharged to the outside of cylindricalcontainer 303 through divider 312. When the discharge speed is high, gasadsorbent 305 can scatter disadvantageously. However, gas adsorbent 305remains inside divider 312 and hence does not scatter.

When gas adsorbing device 301 is applied to vacuum heat insulator 307,gas adsorbent 305 does not scatter inside cylindrical container 303, andvacuum heat insulator 307 can be easily recycled.

For reproducing the function of gas adsorbing device 301 of the presentembodiment, seal 313 is removed before using it. The operation of gasadsorbing device 301 under decompression is similar to that of theeighth exemplary embodiment.

Specific contents of gas adsorbing devices 301 of these exemplaryembodiments are described in examples 7 through 9.

EXAMPLE 7

The volume of the cylindrical container is 10 ml. The volume of theclosed space at the atmospheric pressure is 1 ml. Prepared gas adsorbingdevice 301 is installed in the vacuum chamber, and the operation thereofis verified. The inside of the vacuum chamber is decompressed from theatmospheric pressure to 100 Pa for three minutes.

The pressure at which gas adsorbent 305 communicates with the externalatmosphere is 101.3 hPa when static decompression is performed. Sincethe decompression is performed at a finite speed, the pressure at whichgas adsorbent 305 communicates with the external atmosphere is 300 Pa,lower than 101.3 hPa.

When the decompression is performed at a finite speed, the pressuredeviates from the theoretical value under a static condition. However,this deviation is generated by the following mechanism. Partition 304 isfast stuck to cylindrical container 303, so that it takes time beforepartition 304 starts to move even when a force is applied in thelongitudinal direction of cylindrical container 303. Therefore, after alapse of time since the pressure reaches 300 hPa, partition 304 reachesopening 302 of cylindrical container 303. The decompressing stepcontinues even during this, so that the pressure further decreases from300 hPa. Here, the static condition means a condition where therelationship between the volume of the closed end and the externalatmosphere pressure is matched with a theoretical value by extremelyslowly varying the pressure.

When the decompression is performed at a finite speed, the pressure atwhich gas adsorbent 305 communicates with the external space becomeslower than the theoretical value under the static condition. Therefore,the degradation of gas adsorbent 305 can be further reduced.

EXAMPLE 8

The volume of cylindrical container 303 is 10 ml. The volume of theclosed space at the atmospheric pressure is 1 ml. Prepared gas adsorbingdevice 301 is installed in the vacuum chamber, and the operation thereofis verified. The inside of the vacuum chamber is decompressed from theatmospheric pressure to 100 Pa for 60 minutes. In this case, thepressure at which gas adsorbent 305 communicates with the externalatmosphere is 100.1 hPa, substantially the same as the theoreticalvalue. That is because the decompressing speed is extremely low, and acondition pursuant to the static decompressing step is satisfied.

EXAMPLE 9

In the present example, cylindrical container 303 is covered withlaminated covering material 311 formed by stacking nylon, aluminum foil,and nylon in that order. When the adsorbing characteristic of gasadsorbent 305 is evaluated after a lapse of one month since gasadsorbing device 301 is prepared, the degradation of the adsorbingcapability is not recognized. That is because cylindrical container 303is covered with covering material 311 to prevent gas from infiltratinginto cylindrical container 303.

The gas adsorbing device of the present invention has a container, and agas adsorbent is filled into the container. The container has a shellfor covering the gas adsorbent, and a communication part. Thecommunication part prevents the inside of the shell from communicatingwith the outside thereof when no external force is applied, or allowsthe inside of the shell to communicate with the outside thereof when anexternal force is applied. When an external force is applied, gas flowbetween the internal space and external space is allowed, and the gasadsorbent exhibits the gas adsorbing capability. When no external forceis applied, the gas adsorbent does not come into contact with theexternal gas such as air, and hence the degradation of the gas adsorbentcan be suppressed.

Therefore, reduction or fluctuation in gas adsorbing performance due toexposure in the air atmosphere is suppressed, and the gas adsorbingperformance can be stably exhibited.

The gas adsorbent is preferably vacuum-filled into the container shell.The gas adsorbent may be decompressed and filled together with a minuteamount of non-adsorbent gas such as argon or xenon.

The gas adsorbent can be selected in response to adsorbed gas, but a gasadsorbent capable of adsorbing an air component is selected when it isapplied to a vacuum heat insulator. An example of the gas adsorbent isan air component adsorbent made of Ba—Li alloy (combo gettermanufactured by SAES Co., Ltd.) or copper-ion-exchanged CuZSM-5 typezeolite.

A predetermined external force of the present invention is atmosphericpressure, pressure such as water pressure, magnetic force, physicalforce by a person or device, for example, and is not especially limitedto these. When the gas adsorbent is applied to the vacuum heatinsulator, it is easy that a heat insulation material is vacuum-packagedand then the atmospheric pressure applied to the vacuum heat insulatoris utilized.

For preventing degradation of the gas adsorbent, it is preferable toselect gas hardly-permeable material as the material of the container.The container is a metal container of aluminum, copper, or stainlesssteel, a laminated film container with low gas permeability, a resincontainer stuck with aluminum foil, or a glass container, for example.

In the gas adsorbing device of the present invention, the containerincluding a gas adsorbent is formed of two or more members. Acommunication part is formed by disposing an arbitrary defective part inat least one of the members, and gas flow between the inner space andouter space of the container is allowed through the defective part by anexternal force. Since the gas flow between the inner space and outerspace of the container is allowed only by applying the external force,the gas adsorbent does not come into contact with the air in theatmosphere until a predetermined external force is applied, and the gasadsorbent does not degrade. Therefore, fluctuation in gas adsorbingperformance due to exposure in the air atmosphere is suppressed, and thegas adsorbing performance can be stably exhibited.

In the gas adsorbing device of the present invention, the containerincluding a gas adsorbent is formed of two or more members. One and theother of the members have an arbitrary defective part, and gas flowbetween the inner space and outer space is allowed by matching thedefective parts with each other with an external force. Since the gasflow between the inner space and outer space is allowed only by applyingthe external force, the gas adsorbent does not come into contact withthe air in the atmosphere until a predetermined external force isapplied, and the gas adsorbent does not degrade. Therefore, fluctuationin gas adsorbing performance due to exposure in the air atmosphere issuppressed, and the gas adsorbing performance can be stably exhibited.

In the gas adsorbing device of the present invention, the members havegas shielding property, gas permeation in a joint between at least twomembers is shielded with a grease-like material, and the joint ismovable. Since the members have gas shielding property and the gaspermeation in the joint is shielded with the grease-like material, theinfiltration of air is further suppressed and the reliability can beimproved. Mobility by the external force is further smoothed by applyingthe grease-like material.

In the gas adsorbing device of the present invention, the defective partis a through hole. Applying the external force allows the gas flowbetween the inner space and outer space through the through hole, andthe gas adsorbing performance can be rapidly exhibited.

In the gas adsorbing device of the present invention, the defective partis a slit. Applying the external force allows the gas flow between theinner space and outer space through the slit, and the gas adsorbingperformance can be rapidly exhibited.

In the gas adsorbing device of the present invention, the predeterminedexternal force is atmospheric pressure. In the case that the gasadsorbing device having a container including the gas adsorbent isapplied to a vacuum heat insulator, when the vacuum heat insulator isvacuum-packaged and then taken to the atmosphere, the atmosphericpressure applied to the vacuum heat insulator acts as the externalforce, gas can flow between the inner space and outer space, and the gasadsorbing performance can be rapidly exhibited. Therefore, the gasadsorbent does not come into contact with the atmosphere, but cancommunicate with only the inner space of the vacuum-sealed vacuum heatinsulator. The gas adsorbent is not degraded by contact with theatmosphere, stably adsorbs main air components such as a minute amountof nitrogen and oxygen infiltrating into the vacuum heat insulator withtime, can keep the degree of vacuum for a long time, and can providehigh heat insulation performance.

In the gas adsorbing device of the present invention, the gas adsorbentcan adsorb at least one of components contained in air. When this gasadsorbing device is applied to a vacuum heat insulator, the gasadsorbent can adsorb the residual air in the vacuum heat insulator toincrease the degree of vacuum. The gas adsorbent can also adsorb the aircomponents infiltrating from the outside through the jacket material.

In the gas adsorbing device of the present invention, the gas adsorbingdevice and a core material are covered with the jacket material, theinside of the jacket material is decompressed, and air flows between thegas adsorbing device and the core material.

The vacuum heat insulator of the present invention includes thefollowing steps:

-   -   disposing the gas adsorbing device having the container        including the gas adsorbent inside the jacket material together        with the core material;    -   decompressing and sealing the jacket material; and    -   taking it to the atmospheric pressure state.        The decompressed and sealed vacuum heat insulator receives        vertical force from the atmospheric pressure. The vertical force        acts as the external force, gas can flow between the inner space        and outer space of the container through the defective part, and        the gas adsorbent immediately adsorbs the residual gas in the        vacuum heat insulator.

The gas adsorbent is isolated from the outer space until the externalforce acts, so that the gas adsorbent does not come into contact withthe air in the atmosphere in the producing step, and the gas adsorbingperformance does not degrade. The gas adsorbent can be used withoutproblems regardless of the amount of the producing time of the vacuumheat insulator. Therefore, the vacuum heat insulator can be obtainedthat has no fluctuation in adsorbing performance due to exposure in theair atmosphere, can be stably produced, and has satisfactory long-termreliability.

Assuming that the atmospheric pressure applied to the vacuum heatinsulator when the vacuum heat insulator is installed in the atmosphereis the external force, the external force can be used as a switchingfunction for easily exhibiting the gas adsorbing capability.

The gas adsorbent of the present invention is preferably decompressedand filled into the container, and may be filled together with a minuteamount of non-adsorbent gas such as argon or xenon. Argon or xenon haslow gas heat conductivity, so that a minute amount of argon or xenondoes not have a great influence on the heat insulation performance.

As the core material of the present invention, a communication foam ofpolymer material such as polystyrene or polyurethane, a communicationfoam of inorganic material, inorganic or organic powder, or inorganic ororganic fiber material can be used. Alternatively, a mixture of them maybe used.

As the core material of the present invention, a material having gasbarrier property, namely various materials and composite materialcapable of preventing gas infiltration, can be used. These materialsare, for example, a metal container, a glass container, a gas barriercontainer where resin and metal are stacked, a laminated film includinga surface protecting layer, gas barrier layer, and thermal depositionlayer.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention is notlimited by these embodiments.

Eleventh Exemplary Embodiment

FIG. 20 is a perspective view showing a sealed state of container 401including gas adsorbent 402 constituting a gas adsorbing device inaccordance with an eleventh exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention. FIG. 21 is a perspective view showing a communication statebetween the inside and outside of container 401 including gas adsorbent402 in accordance with the eleventh exemplary embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 20 and FIG. 21, container 401 including gas adsorbent402 has the following elements:

-   -   gas adsorbent 402;    -   member 403 having a shape of a cross branch pipe having three        opening sides, namely a cylindrical pipe whose both ends are        opening perpendicularly crosses a closed-end cylindrical        container whose one end is opening and the other end is blocked;        and    -   substantially columnar member 404 where a part of a side surface        is in contact with the inner surface of the cylindrical pipe        whose both ends are opening in member 403.

Member 403 has the following elements:

-   -   container part 405 that is a bottom part of the closed-end        cylindrical container and includes gas adsorbent 402; and    -   pipe part 406 that has a cylindrical pipe shape whose both ends        are opening and inner surface is in contact with member 404.        Member 404 has a columnar shape having cock 408 and defective        part 407 as a through hole. Cock 408 is turned by external        force, thereby switching between the following two states. In        the first state, both ends of the through hole of defective part        407 are blocked with the inner surface of pipe part 406 of        member 403, the opening part of the closed-end cylindrical        container of member 403 is cut off from container part 405        including gas adsorbent 402 with member 404, and container part        405 including gas adsorbent 402 is sealed. In the second state,        the opening part of the closed-end cylindrical container in        member 403 communicates with container part 405 including gas        adsorbent 402 through the through hole of defective part 407. A        part where the inner surface of pipe part 406 of member 403 is        in contact with the outer surface of member 404 is coated with        vacuum grease.

In FIG. 20, no external force is applied, so that both ends of thethrough hole of defective part 407 are blocked with the inner surface ofmember 403, and the opening part of the closed-end cylindrical containerof member 403 is cut off from container part 405 including gas adsorbent402 with member 404. Therefore, the inside of container 401 (container405) does not communicate with the outside thereof, and the inner spaceof container 401 (container 405) is kept in a vacuum state.

As shown in FIG. 21, an external force is applied to cock 408, thethrough hole of defective part 407 of member 404 becomes parallel withthe pipe direction of the closed-end cylindrical container of member403, gas flow between the inner space and outer space of container 401(container 405) is allowed through defective part 407. Gas adsorbent 402included in container 405 can thus adsorb the gas in the outer space.

Container 401 including gas adsorbent 402 of the eleventh exemplaryembodiment has the following elements:

-   -   a shell (member 403 and member 404) for covering gas adsorbent        402; and    -   a communication part (defective part 407) that prevents the        inside of the shell from communicating with the outside thereof        when no external force is applied, or allows the inside of the        shell to communicate with the outside thereof when the external        force is applied.        Therefore, when the external force is applied, gas flow between        the inner space and outer space is allowed and gas adsorbent 402        exhibits the gas adsorbing capability. When no external force is        applied, the gas adsorbent does not come into contact with the        external gas such as air and hence the degradation of gas        adsorbent 402 is suppressed.

Therefore, reduction or fluctuation in gas adsorbing performance due toexposure in the air atmosphere is suppressed, and the gas adsorbingperformance can be stably exhibited.

Gas adsorbent 402 is preferably vacuum-filled into container 401, butmay be decompressed and filled together with a minute amount ofnon-adsorbent gas such argon or xenon.

Gas adsorbent 402 can be selected in response to adsorbed gas, and anadsorbent capable of adsorbing an air component is selected when it isapplied to a vacuum heat insulator. An example of the gas adsorbent isan air component adsorbent made of Ba—Li alloy (combo gettermanufactured by SAES Co., Ltd.) or copper-ion-exchanged CuZSM-5 typezeolite.

The predetermined external force is atmospheric pressure, pressure suchas water pressure, magnetic force, physical force by a person or device,for example, and is not especially limited to these. When the gasadsorbent is applied to the vacuum heat insulator, it is easy that aheat insulation material is vacuum-packaged and then the atmosphericpressure applied to the vacuum heat insulator is utilized.

For preventing degradation of gas adsorbent 402, it is preferable toselect gas hardly-permeable material as the material of container 401.The container is a metal container of aluminum, copper, or stainlesssteel, a laminated film container with low gas permeability, a resincontainer stuck with aluminum foil, or a glass container, for example.

In container 401 including gas adsorbent 402, member 403 and member 404have gas shielding property, gas permeation in the joint between member403 and member 404 is shielded by vacuum grease, and the joint ismovable. Since the gas permeation in the joint between member 403 andmember 404 having gas shielding property is shielded by the grease-likematerial, the infiltration of air is further suppressed and thereliability can be improved. Mobility by the external force is furthersmoothed by applying the grease-like material.

In container 401 including gas adsorbent 402 of the eleventh exemplaryembodiment, defective part 407 is a through hole. Applying the externalforce allows the gas flow between the inner space and outer spacethrough the through hole, and the gas adsorbing performance can berapidly exhibited.

Twelfth Exemplary Embodiment

FIG. 22 is a perspective view showing a sealed state of container 409constituting a gas adsorbing device and including gas adsorbent 402 inaccordance with a twelfth exemplary embodiment of the present invention.FIG. 23 is a perspective view showing a communication state between theinside and outside of container 409 including gas adsorbent 402 inaccordance with the twelfth exemplary embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 22 and FIG. 23, container 409 including gas adsorbent402 has the following elements:

-   -   gas adsorbent 402;    -   member 410 having a shape of a closed-end cylindrical container        whose one end is opening and the other end is blocked; and    -   member 411 that has a shape of a closed-end cylindrical        container whose one end is opening and the other end is blocked,        has an inner surface in contact with the outer surface of member        410, and covers the opening of member 410.

Member 410 includes gas adsorbent 402 in a bottom side part of theclosed-end cylindrical container, and has defective part 412 formed of athrough hole in a part whose outer surface is covered with member 411.Member 411 is a lid part having cock 414. Member 411 has defective part413 formed of a through hole at a position where defective part 413overlaps defective part 412 of member 410 when member 411 turns at apredetermined position in the part covering the outer surface of member410. The contact part between member 410 and member 411 is coated withvacuum grease.

In FIG. 22, no external force is applied, so that defective part 412 ofmember 410 is blocked by the inner surface of member 411, the inside ofcontainer 409 does not communicate with the outside thereof, and theinner space of container 409 is kept in a vacuum state.

As shown in FIG. 23, after an external force is applied to cock 414,defective part 412 of member 410 matches with defective part 413 ofmember 411, gas flow between the inner space and outer space ofcontainer 409 is allowed through defective part 412 and defective part413, and gas adsorbent 402 can adsorb the gas in the outer space.

Container 409 including gas adsorbent 402 of the twelfth exemplaryembodiment has the following elements:

-   -   a shell (member 410 and member 411) for covering gas adsorbent        402; and    -   a communication part (defective part 412 and defective part 413)        that prevents the inside of the shell from communicating with        the outside thereof when no external force is applied, or allows        the inside of the shell to communicate with the outside thereof        when the predetermined external force is applied.        When the external force is applied, gas flow between the inner        space and outer space is allowed and gas adsorbent 402 exhibits        the gas adsorbing capability. When no external force is applied,        gas adsorbent 402 does not come into contact with the external        gas such as air and hence the degradation of gas adsorbent 402        is suppressed.

Therefore, reduction or fluctuation in gas adsorbing performance due toexposure in the air atmosphere is suppressed, and the gas adsorbingperformance can be stably exhibited.

Gas adsorbent 402 is preferably vacuum-filled into container 409, butmay be decompressed and filled together with a minute amount ofnon-adsorbent gas such argon or xenon.

Gas adsorbent 402 can be selected in response to adsorbed gas, and anadsorbent capable of adsorbing an air component is selected when it isapplied to a vacuum heat insulator. An example of the gas adsorbent isan air component adsorbent made of Ba—Li alloy (combo gettermanufactured by SAES Co., Ltd.) or copper-ion-exchanged CuZSM-5 typezeolite.

The predetermined external force is atmospheric pressure, pressure suchas water pressure, magnetic force, physical force by a person or device,for example, and is not especially limited to these. When the gasadsorbent is applied to the vacuum heat insulator, it is easy that aheat insulation material is vacuum-packaged and then the atmosphericpressure applied to the vacuum heat insulator is utilized.

For preventing degradation of gas adsorbent 402, it is preferable toselect gas hardly-permeable material as the material of container 409.The container is a metal container of aluminum, copper, or stainlesssteel, a laminated film container with low gas permeability, a resincontainer stuck with aluminum foil, or a glass container, for example.

In container 409 including gas adsorbent 402 of the twelfth exemplaryembodiment, member 410 and member 411 have gas shielding property, gaspermeation in the joint between member 410 and member 411 is shielded byvacuum grease, and the joint is movable. Since the gas permeation in thejoint between member 410 and member 411 having gas shielding property isshielded by the grease-like material, the infiltration of air is furthersuppressed and the reliability can be improved. Mobility by the externalforce is further smoothed by applying the grease-like material.

In container 409 including gas adsorbent 402 of the twelfth exemplaryembodiment, defective part 412 and defective part 413 are through holes.Applying the external force allows the gas flow between the inner spaceand outer space through the through holes, and the gas adsorbingperformance can be rapidly exhibited.

Thirteenth Exemplary Embodiment

FIG. 24 is a perspective view showing a sealed state of container 415constituting a gas adsorbing device and including gas adsorbent 402 inaccordance with a thirteenth exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention. FIG. 25 is a perspective view showing a communication statebetween the inside and outside of container 415 including gas adsorbent402 in accordance with the thirteenth exemplary embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 24 and FIG. 25, container 415 including gas adsorbent402 has the following elements:

-   -   gas adsorbent 402;    -   member 416 having a shape of a closed-end cylindrical container        whose one end is opening and the other end is blocked; and    -   member 417 that has a shape of a closed-end cylindrical        container whose one end is opening and the other end is blocked,        has an inner surface in contact with the outer surface of member        416, and covers the opening of member 416.

Member 416 includes gas adsorbent 402 in a bottom side part of theclosed-end cylindrical container, and has, in its outer surface,defective part 418 of a slit shape (groove shape does not penetrate theinner and outer surfaces of member 416). This slit shape extends in thepipe direction of the closed-end cylindrical container, from the partcovered with member 417 to the part that is not covered with member 417,and without reaching the opening of member 416. Member 417 is a lid parthaving cock 420, and has, in its inner surface, defective part 419 of aslit shape (groove shape does not penetrate the inner and outer surfacesof member 417). This slit shape extends in the pipe direction of theclosed-end cylindrical container, from the part covering the outersurface of member 416 to the part that does not cover the outer surfaceof member 416, and without reaching the opening of member 417. Thecontact part between member 416 and member 417 is coated with vacuumgrease.

When member 417 turns to a predetermined position, the opening side partof member 416 in defective part 418 faces the opening side part ofmember 417 in defective part 419, and the inside of container 415communicates with the outside thereof. When member 417 turns to aposition other than the predetermined position, the opening side part ofmember 416 in defective part 418 does not face the opening side part ofmember 417 in defective part 419, and the inside of container 415 doesnot communicate with the outside thereof.

In FIG. 24, no external force is applied, so that the position ofdefective part 418 in member 416 displaces from the position ofdefective part 419 in member 417 in the turning direction of member 417,the inside of container 415 communicates with the outside thereof, andthe inner space of container 415 is kept in a vacuum state.

As shown in FIG. 25, after an external force is applied to cock 420, theopening side part of member 416 in defective part 418 overlaps theopening side part of member 417 in defective part 419. Gas can flowbetween the inner space and outer space of container 415 through aclearance formed between defective part 419 in member 417 and the outersurface of member 416 and a clearance formed between defective part 418in member 416 and the inner surface of member 417. Thus, gas adsorbent402 can adsorb the gas in the outer space of container 415.

Container 415 including gas adsorbent 402 of the thirteenth exemplaryembodiment has the following elements:

-   -   a shell (member 416 and member 417) for covering gas adsorbent        402; and    -   a communication part (defective part 418 and defective part 419)        that prevents the inside of the shell from communicating with        the outside thereof when no external force is applied, or allows        the inside of the shell to communicate with the outside thereof        when the predetermined external force is applied.        When the external force is applied, gas flow between the inner        space and outer space is allowed and gas adsorbent 402 exhibits        the gas adsorbing capability. When no external force is applied,        gas adsorbent 402 does not come into contact with the external        gas such as air and hence the degradation of gas adsorbent 402        is suppressed.

Therefore, reduction or fluctuation in gas adsorbing performance due toexposure in the air atmosphere is suppressed, and the gas adsorbingperformance can be stably exhibited.

Gas adsorbent 402 is preferably vacuum-filled into container 415, butmay be decompressed and filled together with a minute amount ofnon-adsorbent gas such argon or xenon.

Gas adsorbent 402 can be selected in response to adsorbed gas, and anadsorbent capable of adsorbing an air component is selected when it isapplied to a vacuum heat insulator. An example of the gas adsorbent isan air component adsorbent made of Ba—Li alloy (combo gettermanufactured by SAES Co., Ltd.) or copper-ion-exchanged CuZSM-5 typezeolite.

The predetermined external force is atmospheric pressure, pressure suchas water pressure, magnetic force, physical force by a person or device,for example, and is not especially limited to these. When the gasadsorbent is applied to the vacuum heat insulator, it is easy that aheat insulation material is vacuum-packaged and then the atmosphericpressure applied to the vacuum heat insulator is utilized.

For preventing degradation of gas adsorbent 402, it is preferable toselect gas hardly-permeable material as the material of container 415.The container is a metal container of aluminum, copper, or stainlesssteel, a laminated film container with low gas permeability, a resincontainer stuck with aluminum foil, or a glass container, for example.

In container 415 including the gas adsorbent of the thirteenth exemplaryembodiment, member 416 and member 417 have gas shielding property, gaspermeation in the joint between member 416 and member 417 is shielded byvacuum grease, and the joint is movable. Since the gas permeation in thejoint between member 416 and member 417 having gas shielding property isshielded by the grease-like material, the infiltration of air is furthersuppressed and the reliability can be improved. Mobility by the externalforce is further smoothed by applying the grease-like material.

In container 415 including gas adsorbent 402 of the thirteenth exemplaryembodiment, defective part 418 and defective part 419 are slits.Applying the external force allows the gas flow between the inner spaceand outer space through the slits and the gas adsorbing performance canbe rapidly exhibited.

Fourteenth Exemplary Embodiment

FIG. 26 is a schematic sectional view of vacuum heat insulator 421before vacuum packaging in accordance with a fourteenth exemplaryembodiment of the present invention. FIG. 27 is a schematic sectionalview of vacuum heat insulator 421 in the atmosphere after vacuumpackaging in accordance with the fourteenth exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention.

Vacuum heat insulator 421 of the fourteenth exemplary embodiment isformed by covering gas adsorbing device 422 having a container includinggas adsorbent 402 and core material 423 with jacket material 424 made ofa gas hardly-permeable laminated film, and by decompressing the insideof jacket material 424. Here, the container means the containerincluding gas adsorbent 402 in one of the eleventh embodiment throughthirteenth embodiment, and gas adsorbing device 422 means the gasadsorbing device in one of the eleventh embodiment through thirteenthembodiment.

The container including gas adsorbent 402 constituting gas adsorbingdevice 422 includes an air component adsorbent (gas adsorbent 402) madeof copper-ion-exchanged CuZSM-5 type zeolite, and the inner space of thecontainer is kept in a decompressed state by a minute amount of argongas. No external force is applied, so that the inside of the containerdoes not communicate with the outside thereof.

Vacuum heat insulator 421 in the state of FIG. 26 is handled as follows.Predetermined evacuation is performed by a vacuum pump in adecompressing chamber using a vacuum packaging machine, then opening 425is thermally deposited, and vacuum heat insulator 421 is taken to theatmosphere.

As shown in FIG. 27, regarding vacuum heat insulator 421 in theatmosphere after vacuum packaging, the atmospheric pressure acts as theexternal force to the cock 426 of the container including the gasadsorbent, the inner space of the container communicates with the outerspace thereof through the defective part. Therefore, gas can flowbetween the inner space and the outer space and the gas adsorbentcommunicates with the inside of vacuum heat insulator 421 including corematerial 423 through vacuum space.

Thus, a minute amount of residual air remaining in core material 423 ora minute amount of air infiltrating from the outside can be adsorbed orimmobilized by an air component adsorbent (gas adsorbent 402) thatcommunicates with core material 423 through the vacuum space. Theinternal pressure can be kept at a predetermined degree of vacuum orlower.

For evaluating the aging characteristic, vacuum heat insulator 421 isleft at rest in air at 80° C. for three months as a promoting test.According to this promoting test, variation in heat conductivity is 1%through 2%, and performance can be sufficiently kept.

In the present embodiment, when vacuum heat insulator 421 isvacuum-packaged and then taken to the atmosphere, the atmosphericpressure applied to vacuum heat insulator 421 acts as the externalforce, the gas flow between the inner space and outer space of thecontainer is allowed, and the gas adsorbing performance can be rapidlyexhibited. Therefore, gas adsorbent 402 does not come into contact withthe atmosphere, but can communicate with only the inner space ofvacuum-sealed vacuum heat insulator 421. The gas adsorbent is notdegraded by contact with the atmosphere, stably adsorbs main aircomponents such as a minute amount of nitrogen and oxygen infiltratinginto vacuum heat insulator 421 with time, can keep the degree of vacuumfor a long time, and can provide high heat insulation performance.

In the present embodiment, gas adsorbent 402 can adsorb at least one ofcomponents contained in air. When gas adsorbent 402 is applied to vacuumheat insulator 421, gas adsorbent 402 can adsorb the residual air invacuum heat insulator 421 to increase the degree of vacuum. The gasadsorbent can adsorb the air components infiltrating from the outsidethrough jacket material 424.

In vacuum heat insulator 421 of the present invention, gas adsorbingdevice 422 and core material 423 are covered with jacket material 424,the inside of jacket material 424 is decompressed, and gas flows betweengas adsorbent 402 and core material 423. Here, gas adsorbing device 422has a container that has the same structure as those of eleventh throughthirteenth embodiments and includes gas adsorbent 402.

Vacuum heat insulator 421 includes the following steps:

-   -   disposing gas adsorbing device 422 having the container        including gas adsorbent 402 inside jacket material 424 together        with core material 423;    -   decompressing and sealing the jacket material; and    -   taking it to the atmospheric pressure state.        Decompressed and sealed vacuum heat insulator 421 receives a        vertical force from the atmospheric pressure. The vertical force        acts as the external force, gas can flow between the inner space        and outer space of the container through the defective part, and        gas adsorbent 402 immediately adsorbs the residual gas in vacuum        heat insulator 421.

Gas adsorbent 402 is isolated from the outer space until the externalforce acts, so that gas adsorbent 402 does not come into contact withthe air in the atmosphere in the producing step, and the gas adsorbingperformance of gas adsorbent 402 does not degrade. The gas adsorbent canbe used without problems regardless of the amount of the producing timeof vacuum heat insulator 421. Therefore, vacuum heat insulator 421 canbe obtained that has no fluctuation in adsorbing performance due toexposure in an air atmosphere, can be stably produced, and hassatisfactory long-term reliability.

When the atmospheric pressure applied to vacuum heat insulator 421 whenvacuum heat insulator 421 is installed in the atmosphere is assumed tobe the external force, the external force can be used as a switchingfunction for easily exhibiting the gas adsorbing capability.

Gas adsorbent 402 is preferably decompressed and filled into thecontainer, and may be filled together with a minute amount ofnon-adsorbent gas such as argon or xenon. Argon or xenon has low gasheat conductivity, so that a minute amount of argon or xenon does nothave a great influence on the heat insulation performance.

As core material 423, a communication foam of polymer material such aspolystyrene or polyurethane, a communication foam of inorganic material,inorganic or organic powder, or inorganic or organic fiber material canbe used. Alternatively, a mixture of them may be used.

As core material 424, a material having gas barrier property, namelyvarious materials and composite material capable of preventing gasinfiltration, can be used. These materials are, for example, a metalcontainer, a glass container, a gas barrier container where resin andmetal are stacked, and a laminated film including a surface protectinglayer, gas barrier layer, and thermal deposition layer.

A producing process of the vacuum heat insulator of the presentinvention is as follows. An air component adsorbent that is gas-packagedinto the adsorbent filling body together with non-adsorbent gas isarranged inside the jacket container together with a porous corematerial, and is decompressed. The non-adsorbent gas in the adsorbentfilling body is evacuated through an opening that is formed by burstinga part of the adsorbent filling body expanded by pressure difference bythe decompression. Then, the jacket container is sealed. The aircomponent adsorbent is gas-packaged together with the non-adsorbent gas,is burst in the vacuum atmosphere, and is vacuum-packaged together withthe porous core material. Therefore, contact with the air in theatmosphere does not occur in the producing step and the degradation ofthe air component adsorbent is prevented.

The vacuum heat insulator can be used without problems regardless of theamount of the producing time of the vacuum heat insulator. Fluctuationin adsorbing performance due to exposure in the air atmosphere iseliminated, so that a vacuum heat insulator that can be stably producedand has satisfactory long-term reliability is provided.

The vacuum heat insulator of the present invention has a gas adsorbingdevice including at least an air component adsorbent arranged in anadsorbent filling body having an opening, a porous core material, and ajacket container for storing them. The air component adsorbentcommunicates with the vacuum space inside the vacuum heat insulatorthrough the opening. Thus, a minute amount of residual air remaining inthe porous core material and a minute amount of air infiltrating fromthe outside can be adsorbed and immobilized by the air componentadsorbent that communicates with the porous core material through thevacuum space, and the internal pressure can be kept at a predetermineddegree of vacuum or lower. Thus, high heat insulation performance can bekept for a long time.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention is notlimited by these embodiments.

Fifteenth Exemplary Embodiment

FIG. 28 is a sectional view showing the inside of a vacuum packagingmachine before evacuation in a producing process of a vacuum heatinsulator in accordance with a fifteenth exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention. FIG. 29 is a sectional view showing the inside of thevacuum packaging machine during evacuation. FIG. 30 is a sectional viewshowing the inside of the vacuum packaging machine just before thecompletion of evacuation. FIG. 31 is a sectional view showing the vacuumheat insulator after vacuum packaging.

As shown in FIG. 28, jacket container 501 made of a laminated filmincludes and covers porous core material 502.

Air component adsorbent 503 is made of Ba—Li alloy (combo gettermanufactured by SAES Co., Ltd.) or copper-ion-exchanged CuZSM-5 typezeolite.

Air component adsorbent 503 is gas-filled and packaged into adsorbentfilling body 504 made of an easy-open film manufactured by Tohcell Co.,Ltd. having heat seal strength of 13.5 N/15 mm width, together withnon-adsorbent gas 505 such as argon gas. The pressure of fillednon-adsorbent gas 505 is 1 atm, namely normal pressure.

The main part of vacuum packaging machine 506 has decompressing chamber507, vacuum pump 508, and heat sealing machine 509 for performingthermal deposition after predetermined evacuation.

In FIG. 29, when vacuum packaging machine 506 is operated and the insideof decompressing chamber 507 is vacuumed to 500 Pa, adsorbent fillingbody 504 is expanded largely in a balloon shape until it bursts by thepressure difference between the inside of adsorbent filling body 504 andfilled non-adsorbent gas 505 of 1 atm pressure.

In FIG. 30, adsorbent filling body 504 is made of the easy-open filmmanufactured by Tohcell Co., Ltd. having heat seal strength of 13.5N/15mm width, so that the thermal deposition layer thereof bursts easily toform opening 510, and non-adsorbent gas 509 is exhausted intodecompressing chamber 507 through opening 510. Then, just when thedegree of vacuum in decompressing chamber 507 becomes a predeterminedvalue of 10 Pa, jacket container 501 is thermally deposited by heatsealing machine 509 to form vacuum heat insulator 511 of FIG. 31.

In the producing process of vacuum heat insulator 511 of the presentembodiment, air component adsorbent 503 is burst in the vacuumatmosphere to be vacuum-packaged. Only a minute amount of air componentadsorbent 503 therefore comes into contact with air in the producingstep. Therefore, air component adsorbent 503 does not degrade even ifthe producing period becomes long, and can be used without problems.Fluctuation in adsorbing performance due to exposure time in the airatmosphere is eliminated, so that the vacuum heat insulator can bestably produced and has satisfactory long-term reliabilityadvantageously.

As a result, the energy is saved by effectively using long-term highheat insulation performance, thereby contributing to global environmentprotection.

Sixteenth Exemplary Embodiment

Next, a vacuum heat insulator of a sixteenth exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention is described. The same elements as those in thefifteenth exemplary embodiment are denoted with the same referencemarks, and the descriptions of those elements are omitted.

In FIG. 31, vacuum heat insulator 511 has jacket container 501, porouscore material 502, and air component adsorbent 503. Air componentadsorbent 503 communicates with the vacuum space inside vacuum heatinsulator 511 including porous core material 502 through opening 510 ofadsorbent filling body 504.

Thus, a minute amount of residual air remaining in porous core material502 and a minute amount of air infiltrating from the outside can beadsorbed and immobilized by air component adsorbent 503 thatcommunicates with porous core material 502 through the vacuum space. Theinternal pressure can be kept at a predetermined degree of vacuum orlower.

For evaluating the aging characteristic, vacuum heat insulator 511 isleft at rest in air at 80° C. for three months as a promoting test.According to this promoting test, variation in heat conductivity is 1%through 2%, and performance can be sufficiently kept.

Thus, in the present embodiment, high performance of the vacuum heatinsulator can be achieved stably for a long time without fluctuation.

The producing process of the vacuum heat insulator of the presentinvention is as follows. An air component adsorbent and a non-adsorbentgas that is not adsorbed by the air component adsorbent are filled intoa filling container. Here, the filling container opens when the pressureoutside the filling container becomes lower than the pressure inside thefilling container by a predetermined value or more. The fillingcontainer and a porous core material are arranged in a jacket container.The inside of the jacket container is decompressed so that the pressureoutside the filling container is lower than the pressure inside thefilling container by the predetermined value or more, thereby exhaustingthe non-adsorbent gas from the filling container, together with the airin the jacket container, through the opening drilled in the fillingcontainer. Then, the jacket container is sealed. The air componentadsorbent, together with the non-adsorbent gas, is filled into thefilling container, the filling container opens in the vacuum atmosphere,and the air component adsorbent is vacuum-packaged together with theporous core material. Therefore, contact with the air in the atmospheredoes not occur in the producing step and the air component adsorbentdoes not degrade. The vacuum heat insulator can be used without problemsregardless of the amount of the producing time of the vacuum heatinsulator. Fluctuation in adsorbing performance due to exposure in theair atmosphere is eliminated, so that the vacuum heat insulator that canbe stably produced and has satisfactory long-term reliability isprovided.

In the producing process of the vacuum heat insulator of the presentinvention, the filling container has a structure where the openings ofdifferent sizes included in two containers are overlapped and joined toeach other so that the opening of one container is blocked by theopening of the other container. When the pressure outside the fillingcontainer becomes lower than the pressure inside the filling containerby the predetermined value or more, the overlapped and joined partseparates. As the filling container, a capsule for medicine or healthfood can be used.

In the producing process of the vacuum heat insulator of the presentinvention, the overlapped and joined part of the filling container ispreviously coated with a lubricant. Thus, deformation is smoothlyperformed by the pressure difference by the decompression to easily forman opening.

The vacuum heat insulator of the present invention has at least thefollowing elements:

-   -   an air component adsorbent arranged in the filling container in        which the joint separates to form an opening;    -   a porous core material; and    -   a jacket container for storing them.        The air component adsorbent communicates with the continuous        space inside the jacket container through the opening. The        minute amount of residual air remaining in the porous core        material and a minute amount of air infiltrating from the        outside can be adsorbed and immobilized by the air component        adsorbent that communicates with the porous core material        through the continuous space. The internal pressure can be kept        at a predetermined degree of vacuum or lower. Thus, high        insulation performance can be kept for a long time.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention is notlimited by these embodiments.

Seventeenth Exemplary Embodiment

FIG. 32 is a sectional view showing a state before evacuation in aproducing process of a vacuum heat insulator in accordance with aseventeenth exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 33 is anenlarged sectional view showing a filling container used for the vacuumheat insulator in accordance with the seventeenth exemplary embodiment.FIG. 34 is a sectional view showing a state just before the completionof the evacuation in the producing process of the vacuum heat insulatorin accordance with the seventeenth exemplary embodiment. FIG. 35 is asectional view showing the vacuum heat insulator after vacuum packagingin the producing process of the vacuum heat insulator in accordance withthe seventeenth exemplary embodiment.

In FIG. 32, jacket container 601 made of a laminated film includes andcovers porous core material 602. Air component adsorbent 603 adsorbs atleast nitrogen, and is made of Ba—Li alloy (combo getter manufactured bySAES Co., Ltd.) or copper-ion-exchanged CuZSM-5 type zeolite. Aircomponent adsorbent 603, together with non-adsorbent gas 605 such asargon gas that is not adsorbed by air component adsorbent 603, is filledinto filling container 604 formed of a general-purpose capsule formedicine. The pressure of filled non-adsorbent gas 605 is a normaltemperature of 1 atm.

As shown by the enlarged sectional view in FIG. 33, filling container604 formed of the capsule for medicine has no gas permeability orextremely low gas permeability, and has body (one closed-end cylindricalcontainer) 606 and cap (the other closed-end cylindrical container) 607.The openings of different sizes included in two containers (body 606 andcap 607) are joined to each other so that the opening of body 606 isblocked by the opening of cap 607, the opening of body 606 is pressedinto the opening of cap 607 to overlap the openings, and they are faststuck to each other by joint 608, thereby forming filling container 604.

Joint 608 is previously coated with lubricant 609 such as oil forvacuum. When the pressure outside filling container 604 becomes lowerthan the pressure inside filling container 604 by a predetermined valueor more, the overlapped and joined part separates to form an opening.

In FIG. 32, the main part of vacuum packaging machine 610 hasdecompressing chamber 611, vacuum pump 612, and heat sealing machine 613for performing thermal deposition after predetermined evacuation.

In FIG. 34, when vacuum packaging machine 610 is operated and the insideof decompressing chamber 611 is vacuumed to 500 Pa, the pressuredifference between the inside of filling body 604 and includednon-adsorbent gas 605 of 1 atm pressure causes body 606 to separate fromcap 607, thereby forming opening 614 in filling body 604 formed of thecapsule. Non-adsorbent gas 605 in filling container 604 is exhaustedinto decompressing chamber 611 through opening 614.

Then, just when the degree of vacuum in decompressing chamber 611becomes a predetermined value of 10 Pa, jacket container 601 isthermally deposited by heat sealing machine 613 to form vacuum heatinsulator 615 of FIG. 35.

In the producing process of the vacuum heat insulator of the presentembodiment, since body 606 of filling container 604 separates from cap607 in the vacuum atmosphere, only a minute amount of air componentadsorbent 603 comes into contact with air in the producing step.Therefore, air component adsorbent 603 does not degrade even if theproducing period becomes long, and can be used without problems.Fluctuation in adsorbing performance due to exposure time in the airatmosphere is eliminated, so that the vacuum heat insulator can bestably produced and has satisfactory long-term reliabilityadvantageously.

As a result, the energy is saved by effectively using long-term highheat insulation performance, thereby contributing to global environmentprotection.

Joint 608 of filling container 604 is previously coated with lubricant609 such as oil for vacuum. Therefore, when filling container 604 isvacuumed as shown in FIG. 34, slip and separation are easily caused atjoint 608 by the force due to pressure difference, thereby formingopening 614.

Since body 606 of filling container 604 is more certainly separated fromcap 607 due to lubricant 609, air component adsorbent 603 caneffectively adsorb and reduce a minute amount of air inside vacuum heatinsulator 615 through opening 614.

In FIG. 35, vacuum heat insulator 615 has jacket container 601, porouscore material 602, and air component adsorbent 603. Air componentadsorbent 603 communicates with the continuous vacuum space insidejacket container 601 including porous core material 602 through opening614 of filling container 604 formed of a capsule.

A minute amount of residual air remaining in porous core material 602and a minute amount of air infiltrating from the outside can be adsorbedand immobilized by air component adsorbent 603 that communicates withporous core material 602 through the continuous space. The internalpressure can be kept at a predetermined degree of vacuum or lower. Forevaluating the aging characteristic, vacuum heat insulator 615 is leftat rest in air at 80° C. for three months as a promoting test. Accordingto this promoting test, variation in heat conductivity is 1% through 2%,and performance can be kept without problems.

Thus, in the present embodiment, high performance of the vacuum heatinsulator can be achieved stably without variation for a long time.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

When a gas adsorbing device of the present invention is applied to avacuum apparatus, degradation of a gas adsorbent due to the atmospheredoes not occur. After the gas adsorbing device is applied to the vacuumapparatus, its essential performance can be exhibited and the degree ofvacuum of the vacuum apparatus can be kept high.

A vacuum heat insulator of the present invention stably achieves highheat insulation performance and can secure long-term reliability. Thevacuum heat insulator can be widely applied as a heat insulator for arefrigerator, a thermal insulation container, a vending machine, anelectric kettle, an automobile, a railroad vehicle, or a residence. Thevacuum heat insulator can produce remarkable effects for saving energyand addressing environmental problems of global warming or the like.

Therefore, the industrial applicability of the present invention isextremely high.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A vacuum heat insulator having a gasadsorbing device and a vacuum space inside the vacuum heat insulator, atleast comprising: an adsorbent filling body having an opening; an aircomponent adsorbent arranged in the adsorbent filling body; agas-permeable packaging material covering the air component adsorbent; aporous core material; and a jacket container for storing the aircomponent adsorbent and the porous core material, wherein the aircomponent adsorbent communicates with the vacuum space through theopening.
 2. The vacuum heat insulator of claim 1 wherein the packagingmaterial is one of a film and a sheet formed by braiding fibers orcollecting them with a binder.
 3. The vacuum heat insulator of claim 1wherein the packaging material has opening through holes, and thethrough holes are smaller than a grain size of the gas adsorbent.
 4. Avacuum heat insulator having a gas adsorbing device and a vacuum spaceinside the vacuum heat insulator, at least comprising: a fillingcontainer in which a joint separates to form an opening; an aircomponent adsorbent arranged in the filling container; a gas-permeablepackaging material covering the air component adsorbent; a porous corematerial; and a jacket container for storing the air component adsorbentand the porous core material, wherein the air component adsorbentcommunicates with the vacuum space through the opening.
 5. The vacuumheat insulator of claim 4 wherein the packaging material is one of afilm and a sheet formed by braiding fibers or collecting them with abinder.
 6. The vacuum heat insulator of claim 4 wherein the packagingmaterial has opening through holes, and the through holes are smallerthan a grain size of the gas adsorbent.